


Something Powerful

by ApolloLoki97



Series: The Mechanic and The Witch [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Happy Ending, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Protective Tony Stark, Wanda and Tony are friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-03-06 15:31:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 41,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18853903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApolloLoki97/pseuds/ApolloLoki97
Summary: "Tell me, 'what is it that you fear most'?"The team is back together to fight HYDRA and an old adversary. Tensions rise as they adjust to being one unit again, but Wanda is counting on all of them.With Wanda's power rising and her connection to Tony only growing stronger, the two of them will have to rally friend and foe to fight the evil organization and clear Wanda's name. As they struggle to find out who is pulling the strings, the past is brought up and emotions are heightened. If the team wants to come home for good they will have to learn what it means to be the Avengers once again.With a corrupt government, the world thinking Wanda is a murderer, and the potential for evil to rise again, Wanda and Tony are leading a fight that could change everything for the team. Will they manage to come out on top or will their past crush them once again?------The finale of the Mechanic and the Witch.





	1. The Spider and the Safe House

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go again

Peter Parker would do anything for Tony Stark.

Breaking into a highly secured building in the middle of the night was just the newest addition to the list of things Spider-Man has done for the Avenger. And still, he was happy to do it. As soon as May had fallen asleep, Peter suited up and snuck out his window.

While May was in the know of his avenging, Peter knew that she wouldn’t be on board with him committing a crime. Even though Tony had asked him to do it and it was still technically Stark’s building even if the world thought he was dead. 

It was all too eerie for Peter’s liking, the TV specials and billboards projecting Tony’s face everywhere. If he hadn’t been in contact with him, he would have thought it was real.

When Tony had shown up on his doorstep with Vision and Wanda, Peter didn’t know what to think. He had been by Stark’s side when the team had split apart and while he wasn’t angry with Wanda, he didn’t know what would happen if he ever came face to face with Steve Rogers. Peter wanted to shake his hand but also punch him in the face. It was complicated. Regardless, he now had a job to do. Tony was counting on him and while there weren’t many things Peter could do for his mentor at the moment, he could definitely do this. 

Peter balanced on his fire escape and slipped his mask on. Karen greeted him immediately. 

_ “Good evening, Peter.”  _

“Hey, Karen. Plot the fastest course to Stark Industries headquarters in Manhattan,” Peter said as he double checked his web shooters. 

_ “On a special assignment?”  _

“Something like that. Bossman always needs help with something,” Peter joked as he stood up, taking in the night around him. 

_ “Route created,”  _ Karen said. 

“Seems like a good night for a swing, don’t you think?”

_ “If you say so, Peter.”  _ Peter’s HUD lit up with his route and with a quick flick of his wrist, he swung from his fire escape and headed West towards Manhattan. He maneuvered easily through his city, only having to make short cuts to get to the taller buildings a few times. It was late and not a lot of traffic was around, but he knew that would change once he got across the bridge. New York was called the City That Never Sleeps for a reason. 

Peter hitched a ride on the train before swinging across Hunters Point and over to the Queensboro Bridge. As soon as he cleared the East River, the city was alive around him. Peter smiled beneath his mask. While he enjoyed saving his beloved Queens, there was nothing like swinging through the bright lights of Manhattan. Peter dove into the maze of skyscrapers. 

Cars honked and people waved beneath him as he cut through the busy streets. The new headquarters was between Midtown and Hells Kitchen. After Tony had sold the Tower, the company had moved to a collection of buildings and doubled its employees. Peter preferred the Tower, but he also knew that Tony didn’t want it anymore and it was best if the Avengers didn’t have a home base in an over-populated area. 

“Karen, what’s the security like at SI right now?”

_ “Standard Stark Industries protocols in place. Though my scans indicate that F.R.I.D.A.Y. has been taken offline.”  _ Peter landed on a rooftop across from HQ.

“Why would they turn off the AI that runs the entire building?” 

_ “Protocol states that in the event of Mr. Stark’s death, any and all advanced technology would be shut down unless ordered by CEO or secondary shareholder,”  _ Karen informed him.

“Which would be Pepper,” Peter realized. “Who is considered missing. Okay, we’re going to have to do this nice and easy and hopefully not be seen.”

_ “The usual then?”  _ Peter laughed. 

“You really do get me, Karen,” Peter said with a grin as he took a few steps back and then with a few bounds, cleared the rooftop and landed on the side of the Headquarters. “Tony’s office is on the top floor, right?” 

_ “South West corner of the building,”  _ Karen informed him. 

“Easy enough.” Peter shot two webs and pulled himself to the roof. He clocked the many security cameras and with the help of Karen, stayed in their blind spots. Below, he could hear a multitude of voices. “Karen, scan for thermals.”  His HUD was lit up with a plethora of heat signatures below him. “It’s nearly two in the morning, why are there so many people here?” 

_ “No employees should be present besides security personnel.”  _

“So, I’m guessing these aren’t friendlies then,” Peter said. “I can work with that.” Peter headed across the roof and then dropped over the side, landing outside of Tony’s office on the balcony. The room was dark and Peter couldn’t hear any voices through the thick glass so he figured he was in the clear. Just then, on the balcony adjacent to Stark’s two men appeared. Peter acted quickly, swinging below the balcony and pressing himself as flat as he could. Peter then deployed his drone and the spider got a better look at the scene. 

The two men were dressed in black, headsets sat in their ears, and on their shoulder were red patches. The design was a skull with six tentacles. “HYDRA,” Peter whispered. Both HYDRA agents were armed and looked to be on sentry duty. Peter was a statue as he waited for them to go back inside. When they finally did, his drone returned to his chest and Peter swung back up onto the balcony. “We have to move fast.” 

_ “Biometric lock detected,”  _ Karen said as Peter’s HUD lit up a section on the glass door. 

“Can you override it?” 

_ “Starting decryption now.”  _ Peter waited as his AI took control. He scanned his surroundings, waiting to run into another HYDRA squid, but so far it was silent on his end. If HYDRA had already infiltrated the Compound and SI, how were they going to get out of this one? Peter hoped that wherever Tony was, he had a plan. _"_ _ Lock override complete.”  _

“You’re a genius, Karen,” Peter said, coming back into himself. He placed his hand against the scanner and the door opened immediately. A thrill went through the spider as he pushed into the room, sealing the office behind him. He hadn’t been to the new headquarters yet, but he already preferred the previous space. Peter listened for anyone on the other side of the door and as soon as he felt as if he was clear, he headed for the computer. 

Peter scoffed at the fact that Tony didn’t have a password on his work computer. “Real tech genius, man,” Peter whispered as he flicked through the screens. “Karen, access any and all files on Secretary Ross and known HYDRA associates.” 

_ “Accessing now,”  _ Karen said as multiple files appeared across the desktop. With a crack of his knuckles, Peter got to work. Using a pattern of code he learned years ago, he moved all the confidential files into the Stark server with extra protection and firewalls. It would take a very powerful decryption program to access it, but he knew Tony would be able to get through. 

Peter scanned the hard drive with help from Karen and managed to move all the information Tony had requested. His eyes kept flickering to the door that led to the hallway. Occasionally he would catch a shadow walking past the office or hear the click of boots on the floors, but so far nobody had tried to breach the boss’ office.

He fought the urge to dig deeper into the hard drive to look at any upcoming projects and went straight to the blueprint files. These ones were password protected, but Tony had taught Peter well. From his belt, Peter retrieved a USB key. He had coded the skeleton key last year on a dare from Ned. He never thought he’d get to use it until now. It took less than a minute to bypass the passwords and then the screen was flooded with plans for the Avengers Facility. Peter noted that the armor hall wasn’t listed, but it wasn’t as if a lot of people were aware that it even existed. Peter was one of the few who were granted access to it. Rhodey and Pepper being the other ones besides Stark himself. 

It took a lot longer than he would have liked, but eventually, one by one, the files were deleted. He made sure to check for copies and edits as well, but it looked as if Tony only had one of each on this SI server. He erased the plans on the SI secure server as well in case HYDRA had gotten a lot smarter in the years they had been under the radar. 

“Karen, do a final sweep,” Peter whispered. As his AI ran through the hard drive one more time, Peter did a lap around the office. He paused when he noticed a framed photo on the bookcase in the corner. He picked it up and held it gently between his fingers. It was of him and Tony. They were working together in the lab Upstate, both with big goofy grins on their faces. It looked as if Peter had just told Tony a really lame joke, but both found it hilarious. Pepper must have taken it, Peter realized. “We’re not going to let them win, Tony,” Peter said softly to himself. “We’ll make sure of it.” 

_ “Scan complete. All files deleted,”  _ Karen spoke to him. 

“Great,” said Peter as he webbed up the picture frame to take with him. “Let’s get out of here.” Peter shut everything down and for good measure, wiped the hard drive. He locked up the office and stepped back out onto the balcony. A part of him wanted to race back inside and take out all the HYDRA goons that were trying to erase Tony Stark. However, Tony had trusted Peter to get this done covertly and he had to prove to his mentor that he was ready to take on more responsibilities and that Tony could rely on him.

With the picture frame still in hand, Peter jumped from the balcony, catching himself on a web on the way down. He landed in the alleyway adjacent to the building. A second later and he had his arm raised as someone approached him from behind. “Whoever you are, you’re trying to mug the wrong person,” Peter said as he clocked a man lurking in the shadows. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Spider-Man,” the man said as he stepped into the light. Peter dropped his arm immediately. 

“Nick Fury?” The former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. sauntered over to him. 

“Late night work for your boss, Mister Parker?” Peter froze. “Don’t bother denying it. Stark tells me everything.” Peter sighed. 

“Of course he does,” Peter said as he checked for cameras before yanking off his mask. “Do you know where he is?” 

“I do,” Fury said with a nod. “Though, I believe he wants to keep that under wraps for now.” Peter nodded in understanding.

“What are you doing here?” 

“Making the rounds, keeping an eye on things,” Fury gestured to the building. “You stick around, kid, keep your ears open. Stark may think he needs to save the world alone, but he doesn’t have to. Especially with people like you.” Fury gave him a long look that made Peter think Fury knew a lot more about him that he first thought. “I’ll be seeing you again,” Fury said as he once again blended into the shadows. Peter stared after the man in utter confusion. 

“He was definitely following me, right?” 

_ “Most likely,” _ Karen said. 

“Fantastic. Let’s go home.” 

* * *

Tony Stark sat against the wall of the warehouse attempting to catch a signal.

He hadn’t been able to establish communication with Rhodey for days and it was making him anxious. As soon as the awkward reunion was out of the way, the newly re-established team boarded the rogue’s quinjet and headed to a safe house. Natasha had many around the world and she still had access to the one in Union City. Jersey wasn’t ideal, but it was the closest one they had.

Besides their initial conversation, Tony and Steve had barely looked at each other since they got off the jet. While everyone else was talking and getting situated, Tony kept to himself. Wanda hovered nearby, pretending to do her own thing, but Tony knew she was keeping an eye on him. There were too many thoughts running through his head at the moment. He didn’t know how to organize them. For the first time in a while, he felt out of sync with himself. He needed his people. He needed Pepper.

The connection failed again and Tony shoved the computer away from him in a burst of anger. The sounds of it crashing across the floor alerted the team as they all turned to see a distressed Tony Stark ready to blow the machine to pieces. Wanda was at his side in an instant. “You alright?” she asked him. Tony raised his eyes to her. 

“Do I look alright?” Wanda grimaced and took a seat across from him, pushing the laptop further away. 

“We’ll get ahold of her,” Wanda assured him. 

“Maybe it’s best not too,” Tony sighed. “She doesn’t need to be pulled into all of this.” Wanda rolled her eyes. “What?” 

“She’s been involved in this since 2008, Tony. I don’t think Pepper minds that much,” Wanda pointed out. 

“It’s not fair to her,” Tony said. 

“Maybe not, but she’s still by your side, right?” Tony nodded. 

“That she is,” agreed Tony. Wanda patted his arm lightly. 

“You know, you two can’t ignore each other forever,” Wanda said gesturing over her shoulder at Steve who was speaking with Clint. 

“We shook hands,” Tony reminded her. 

“Stark…” 

“What do you want me to do, Wanda? Take his hand and sing campfire songs? You know what happened.” She did. Wanda had gotten the story from Steve a year ago and then more recently she had seen what happened through Tony’s thoughts. Wanda wanted to slap both of them for trying to kill one another. 

“I am not saying you have to be best friends again, but you were the one who said we needed Steve on this, remember?” This time Tony rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“True,” she said as she shifted and then a grimace flashed across her face. Tony clocked it immediately. 

“Come over here,” he patted the wall next to him and Wanda slid over. He gestured to her shirt and she lifted it to reveal the incision. Tony got up and got the medical kit Sam had brought from the jet. Tony soaked the surgical spray in alcohol to remove it. “How’s the pain?” 

“Not too bad, just when the skin pulls,” Wanda admitted. 

“I guess that’s what happens when you shoot a laser beam out of your hand,” Tony joked. Wanda let her head lean against the wall as Tony tended to her surgical site. 

“Didn’t know I could do that, did you?” Wanda said with a smirk. 

“Did  _ you _ know you could do that?” Tony asked, amused. 

“A little bit. Didn’t think I could do it for that long of a distance though. I’ve been getting stronger since Sokovia. Just had a little bit of a set back with getting shot and all, you know?” Wanda said. 

“How nonchalant you sound when talking about how you’re basically the strongest Avenger now,” Tony noted. 

“What about Thor?” Tony shrugged. 

“He’s not here right now, is he? You two can duel it out when he gets back.” Wanda laughed. 

“Wouldn’t that be a sight to see,” Wanda said. Tony smiled up at her. “See, I got you to smile.” Tony taped down her side again and flicked her nose. 

“Look at you being all positive. I’ve always pegged you for the doom and gloom of the group,” Tony said and Wanda playfully pushed him. “Hey, watch the stitches.” 

“Thank you,” she said, pulling her shirt down. “Thank you for a lot of things.” Tony waved her off as he leaned against the wall next to her. Wanda shifted over and leaned her head on his shoulder. Tony rested his head on hers. 

“You should get some rest,” he told her.

“I’ve rested for weeks. We don’t know where Ultron is or what HYDRA is planning. We don’t have time to rest.” 

“I think you can afford a couple of hours,” Tony said, his own eyes drifting closed. 

“So can you,” Wanda pointed out, her foot tapping the fallen laptop. 

“Hey, we’re talking about you here,” Tony scoffed causing Wanda to smile, but then, she grew serious again. 

“I need you to promise me something, Tony,” Wanda said in a near whisper. Tony’s eyes opened. 

“What is it?” 

“If it comes down to a fight against him. You let me take him out. I don’t care if I’m bruised and beaten down. Ultron dies by my hand.” The words settled like stones in Tony’s gut, but he understood. It was all for Pietro. 

“I promise,” he told her. “Now you have to promise me something.” 

“Anything,” she said. 

“Don’t you dare do anything self-sacrificial to take out this son of a bitch. He doesn’t get to take both of you. Do you understand?” Wanda sat up and turned to him. Tony didn’t look away from her as they locked eyes.

“I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction,” Wanda said calmly. Tony watched her for a moment before smiling slightly. 

“That’s what I thought,” he said. “Pietro would have been proud of you. I hope you know that.” Wanda nodded her head, her hair falling into curtains around her face. When she lifted her head, her eyes were prickled with tears. “Hold onto that, Wanda.”

“I will,” Wanda promised. Tony reached forward and Wanda leaned in to hug him. He was careful of her stitches as he embraced her. “You’re a good man, Tony Stark. Peter is lucky to have you.” Wanda said in his ear and he tightened his hold on her.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. As he and Wanda embraced, Tony caught Nat’s eye across the room. She watched on with pride in her eyes. Tony ignored her gaze and just held onto the young woman who had become his family through and through. 

* * *

A little while later, Steve rallied them together.

Reluctantly, Tony joined the team meeting.

“Okay, rest time over,” Steve said. “Wanda, I need you to tell us everything that happened from the time you left us in Belgium to when we met up with Vision.” Tony, Vision, and Clint were sticking by her side ready to clarify things, but Wanda handled her own. She told them the story from the beginning to the end. Steve, Natasha, and Sam stayed silent the whole time, taking in everything she said.

Tony sat on the floor in front of the chair she was perched on, leaning against her legs. He could feel her knees bouncing as she got to the part when she showed up at the Compound. Tony judged Steve’s reaction, but the soldier remained stoic. It only annoyed Tony further. By the time she was finished, Natasha looked pissed, Sam was confused, and Steve looked like a good mixture of both. 

“Ultron?” Steve asked, looking at Tony. “You’re sure?”

“Positive,” said Tony, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Steve ran a hand over his beard. 

“Jesus…” he mumbled. “Any idea how they brought him back?”

“Could have copied the matrix before he went all tyrannical, but I can’t be sure. Not unless I get access to their computers.” 

“Can’t you do that remotely?” Sam asked. 

“Little low on tech here, Wilson,” Tony reminded him and Sam clenched his jaw. Natasha looked between the two men and ran a hand through her hair. 

“The tension in this room is suffocating,” Romanoff said. “If we’re going to be working together, then we have to get over all of this.” 

“Right, let’s all just forget the last year of betrayal and lies, shall we?” Tony said, his anger rising. Wanda placed her hand on his shoulder, but that didn’t even calm him down. 

“Can we not do this now?” Cap asked. 

“Of course, your highness, my bad,” Tony rolled his eyes. 

“Tony,” Clint warned. 

“No, let him finish,” Steve said going to stand up. Tony moved to get up as well when both men suddenly had red shields between them. 

“Sit down,” Wanda ordered, her hands alight. Steve and Tony both glanced at the witch who had barely moved a muscle to cause the magic. They both returned to their previous positions. “We do not have time for this. You both can go back to punching each other after we take out Ultron. Again.”

“Wanda, it’s not that simple,” Steve said. 

“No?” she asked. “To me it is. You lied to Tony about his parents and then Tony got angry. The three of you nearly killed each other and then you left him in Siberia.” Steve seemed surprised by how much detail she knew. Clearly, he hadn’t given her the R rated version. “Stark knows where Barnes is, Steve, I told him.” Steve’s jaw clenched. 

“Why would you do that?”

“Because she trusts me, Rogers,” Tony interjected. 

“I do,” Wanda agreed. “I trust you both. You both made mistakes that lead to you both being bloodied and hurt by the end of it. But hey, when I first met you I did horrible things too and you forgave me. It took time, but I became a part of this family and I, for one, would like it back. Anyone else?” Clint awkwardly raised his hand and Vision slowly pushed it down again.

“So, I don’t need you two to apologize or serenade to one another,” Wanda continued, “I just need you to help me take out the monsters that attacked me and brought back my brother’s murderer. Do you think you can do that?” Natasha took a sip of her water in approval at that. Steve and Tony locked eyes. Steve nodded first followed by Tony. “Thank you.”

“Just one more thing,” Natasha interjected. “Why didn’t you just tell us what was going on?” she asked Wanda. Shame suddenly crossed the witch’s face. 

“I’m sorry I used my powers on you,” Wanda said turning to the three heroes before her. “I was desperate and didn’t have time to think of a plan. I just knew Tony would be able to help me.” 

“We would have gone with you,” Sam said. 

“I know, but I had to do this on my own. And it was too dangerous for all of us to travel together. I did what I thought was right. Turned out pretty good in my opinion. My powers are working again, I’m not dying,  _ and  _ I managed to get us all back into one room together.”

“Fair enough,” Steve said. The tension was still heavy in the room, but Wanda had managed to pull the focus to the problem at hand once again. 

“What do we do about Ross?” Clint asked.

“I still do not think Secretary Ross is our main enemy here,” Vision said. 

“What do you mean?” Nat asked. 

“While Thaddeus Ross has made some questionable decisions in the past, I do not think he is inherently evil like many HYDRA operatives. I believe that someone else is at the helm of this operation,” Vision explained. 

“Any ideas on who?” Tony asked. 

“Not as of yet,” said Vision. 

“We have to get back Upstate,” Tony said. “All of my files and our weapons are there and we can get a better handle on this at a proper home base.” 

“Is the Compound even safe?” Wanda asked. “It was sort of under siege when were last there.”

“Then we take it back,” Steve said. “HYDRA has taken enough. If we take back the Compound, we’ll gain at least a few inches.” 

“And what about Ultron?” Clint asked. 

“How does he even fit into all of this?” Natasha asked. “From what you’ve said and the readings you got Stark, it doesn’t seem like last time.” 

“What do you mean?” asked Tony. 

“You created Ultron by using code decrypted from the Mind Stone, right?” Nat asked. Tony nodded. 

“Where are you going with this?” 

“Think about it,” Natasha continued, “when Vision destroyed the last Ultron in Sokovia, he was gone. He couldn’t escape through the internet or branch out anymore. That particular set of hostiles and Ultron Prime had all the same matrix derived from that,” Nat pointed to the stone in Vision’s forehead. “Once they were gone, that specific version of Ultron was destroyed. It’s too complex to be hacked into. You know this, Tony.”

“So they have better hackers,” Sam guessed. 

“Tony decrypted nuclear codes, Sam,” Clint pointed out, causing Sam’s eyes to widen. 

“My point exactly,” Natasha said. “What if this Ultron is not our Ultron, but  _ their  _ Ultron. Looks the same, sounds the same, but is more  _ artificial  _ than  _ intelligence.  _ He may have the memories and very well could be the one we fought three years ago, but he’s not going to be able to evolve like he once could. Without the Mind Stone, we’re probably looking at an Ultron that mirrors the one we fought in the Tower, strength wise.” 

“Which is still not exactly a comfort,” Steve said as he remembered that evening vividly. 

“Don’t think he’s not going to be strong, but he won’t be the mechanical god he once thought he was,” Natasha finished. 

“So what you’re theorizing,” Tony began, “is that he’s a sort of pre-evolution Ultron with a different motive. Do I have that right?” 

“You always did understand me the best, Tony,” Nat said with a wink. 

“If his consciousness is not as evolved as it once was,” Vision said, putting things together, “then perhaps someone is in the driver’s seat this time. A new adversary even.” 

“HYDRA is pretty vast,” Sam said. “Could be anyone.” 

“I suppose that’s our next mystery,” Steve said. 

Suddenly, one of the data pads lit up in red alert. 

“What’s going on?” Tony asked. Nat reached over and tapped away for a moment, then her back straightened. 

“Perimeter was breached,” she said. “We’ve been compromised.” 


	2. Tough Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers get a much-needed speech. 
> 
> Emotions are running high
> 
> They start to plan a siege

As soon as Natasha informed them of the intruder, Wanda was on her feet.

Steve was surprised to see how quickly she took point in the group but didn’t say anything. Wanda stood with her back straight and her hands glowing as they faced the warehouse door. Tony was at her flank with Cap on her other side. Neither man looked at one another as they prepared for whatever was coming.

Stark had activated just his gauntlets and couldn’t repress the smug satisfaction he felt when he saw Cap’s surprised face as Steve saw how the nanotech worked. It was the little things. Natasha and Clint had flanked either side of the door with Vision and Sam on the second level ready to ambush. They were silent for a moment, just listening when Nat raised her hand. She pressed her ear to the door and started counting down on her fingers. 

As she got to one, Wanda lashed out at the accordion door and opened it wide. Everyone aimed, ready for the assault, but it wasn’t an army or a horde of robots. 

It was Nick Fury. 

“You shoot me and you’re grounded,” Fury said as he stared down the barrel of Natasha’s gun. She dropped it immediately. 

“Nick?” said Natasha as she stared at him. 

“Nice to see you too, Romanoff. What is with superheroes and pointing weapons at me today?” Fury scoffed as he adjusted his coat. He then looked at Wanda. “Nice to see you back on your feet.” Wanda lowered her own hands, extinguishing her magic.

“What are you doing here?” Nat asked, holstering her weapon. 

“It seems I always have to be around to clean up your messes these days,” Fury said. 

“I’m sorry,” Tony interjected, “but did you just say you would  _ ground  _ us? We’re not children, Nick.” Tony crossed his arms as the rest of the team relaxed around him. 

“No?” Fury said, stepping toward Stark. “Tell me, are you seven going to go blow up another airport?” Tony grimaced. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. I retire for what? A year? And my team is out there trying to kill each other. Ridiculous.”

“How did you know we were here?” Sam asked as he and Vision made their way down to the first level. 

“Hill and I have been tracking you since these three left the farm,” Fury said pointing to Tony, Wanda, and Clint.

“Where is Hill?” Tony asked. 

“She’s on her way to DC. Going to check in on Agent Thirteen. Sharon is smart, but she’ll need backup that isn’t just Everett Ross,” Fury explained. 

“Sharon?” Cap asked, confused.

“Later,” Tony said. Steve’s jaw clenched as he looked at Stark. Sam nervously glanced between the two men. Clearly, nobody wanted to see a replay of what happened in Siberia. 

“Before she went dark, Sharon confirmed with me that Laura and the little ones are okay,” Fury told Clint who instantly relaxed. “Hill has taken them to one of my personal safe houses. Only Maria and I know of its location. They’re going to be fine.” Clint stepped forward and gripped his friend’s shoulder. 

“Thank you, Nick,” Clint said. Fury returned the gesture.

“We take care of our own, Barton. While you all have been running around with your heads cut off, I still have a soft spot for my idiots. Which is why I’m here. We have another problem,” Fury said, taking a seat on a stack of supply crates Steve and Vision had arranged in the center of the warehouse. 

“Just what we need,” Wanda muttered as she fell back into her chair. Tony remained standing behind her, his hands resting on the back of her seat.

“There is a massive storm approaching the Eastern coast. It hits New York in a week,” Fury explained.

“And how does that affect us?” Clint asked. 

“Have you ever fought a war while battling extreme elements?” Steve asked. 

“As a matter of fact, I have,” Clint said with a nod. 

“Then you have your answer,” Steve said with a roll of his eyes. 

“Someone’s gotten snippy in the past year,” Tony said under his breath. 

“Storm seems a bit convenient,” Wanda said. “I wouldn’t put it past HYDRA to use it as a cover.”

“It will make things a lot more difficult,” Natasha said with a deep sigh. “Especially if Ultron has his flight power or a body for that matter.” 

“Excuse me?” Fury said, his gaze narrowing in on Romanoff. Everyone went silent. “Oh, now you shut up. Perfect.” Fury faced the heroes, his eye roaming the group. “I need to be read in. Right now.” Fury zeroed in on Stark. “Start talking.” Everyone subtly glanced at Steve as Fury addressed Stark as the leader for once. It didn’t escape Tony either. A part of him liked the idea that Fury would turn to him, but it also felt a bit wrong. Steve had always been the captain. It was how they worked best.

Tony caught Vision's eye who nodded to him. Tony cleared his throat. "It seems we have a bigger problem than _we_ first thought." 

* * *

As soon as Tony finished filling Fury in, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D looked as if he had aged twenty years.

“How are you so sure this is Ultron again?” Fury asked. 

“I know his code matrix,” said Tony. “It’s him, Nick, or some alternate version. Natasha and Vision think that perhaps HYDRA has weaponized him.”

“This is the same Ultron that managed to orchestrate a near worldwide extinction, right?” Tony nodded. “Well,” Fury said with a sigh, “you beat him once. You can do it again.” 

“We just have to figure out who the real threat is,” said Natasha. “Someone is running this show, I know it.” 

“Alright, but you can’t fight a war while hiding out here,” Fury said gesturing around him. “Is there another plan in motion?” 

“We have to take back the Compound,” Steve said. “When they left, it had been overrun with HYDRA operatives. We can’t get clear images from the security cameras so there is no way to know how much of the army is still present.” 

“Is that your only plan?” 

“We also need to prove that Wanda isn’t a killer and that Stark isn’t actually dead,” Sam explained. Fury pursed his lips slightly as he ran over the scenarios in his head. 

“One problem at a time, I think,” Fury said. “I agree that taking back the facility is priority number one. I think we all know what happens when HYDRA gets their hands on things that don’t belong to them. Between all of you, you should be fine to take it back. Though I wouldn’t play it like a normal mission. You’ll have to think outside the box.” 

“So as if we weren’t Avengers,” Tony figured. “Interesting. Let’s ask the rogue three for their opinion on how we should run this one,” Tony said turning to Steve, Nat, and Sam.

“You really need to let this go,” Steve said. 

“Oh, do I? I wasn’t aware that I needed to do anything, Rogers.”

“We have a job to do, Tony. I think we would all benefit if we could do it without starting arguments every five minutes,” Steve said, his voice rising. Wanda was glaring at both of them. Clearly, her speech hadn’t made a difference. 

“This isn’t an argument,  _ Captain.  _ This is me not giving you an inch because I don’t  _ trust  _ you. The only reason I had Vision find you, was for  _ her. _ ” Tony pointed at Maximoff. “She was in trouble, dying, and I had to save her. It wasn’t a situation that I wanted to be in, it is one that I have to be in because I promised Wanda. You know, when I saw you get off that jet, I was relieved to have you back on my side, but now that I remember just how much you grind my gears… I guess I hold onto things a lot longer than I thought.” 

Steve stared at Tony. Nobody was speaking and nobody was moving. Throughout the years, the team has always benefited from its strong leadership in both Stark _and_ Rogers. Even when they butted heads, they always ended up leading the Avengers to victory. With their dynamic tarnished, it was a weight that only seemed to crack the team further. 

“That’s enough,” Fury said, pulling the attention to him. “Now you are all going to listen to me because I am only saying this once.” Everyone looked at him, all of them tense, even Vision. “You may think you are all these big shot superheroes, right? Well, let me tell you something. You’re not the first and you won’t be the last. Do you know how you became the Avengers? How you got that name? I gave it to you after I met a woman who proved to me that she wouldn’t let anything stand in her way to protect this planet and the people within it. She was the very best of us and I named this team after her in hopes that you would carry on that legacy.

“And have you? Yeah, sure. You saved the world a couple of times and that’s all great, but right now? Right now, you are acting as if this something I just decided to do for the hell of it. You’re the goddamn defenders of this earth and you are acting like your problems are the biggest there are. Yeah, Stark, Rogers lied about Barnes and your parents, but you’re acting as if you were a saint before all of this. You’ve made mistakes, Rogers has made mistakes, hell, Romanoff, Barton, and I have more blood on our hands than any of you. 

“I chose you all to be on this team because I believed in you. I still do, but you need to stop acting like a little betray of trust is enough for you to abandon what you all built here. I may have put you together, but I didn’t make this a team. You created this dynamic, this family, and I cannot believe in a matter of hours, you all managed to screw it up. When I called you all in to fight Loki, that was when you stopped being individuals and started being one unit because you didn’t have to go at it alone anymore. And from then on, look what happened. You grew as a team,” Fury gestured to Sam, Wanda, and Vision. “And it was for the better. So get your shit together, stop arguing, and learn to trust one another again so the next time that this world goes to hell, my team is able to save it again.” 

The team was silent as Fury’s words sank in. He was right, of course, and perhaps it was a tough love speech from him that they needed. Tony didn’t think they could fix it after one tongue lashing, but Fury always did know what to say. If they were to win this one, they had to work together again. No matter what. 

“Nothing is going to be fixed overnight,” Natasha said. “But Nick is right. We’ve been through too much together for this to completely tear us apart and I think you both know that,” she said looking at Steve and Tony. 

“You don’t have to like each other,” Fury continued, “but you can’t forget what you once meant to each other. You’re a team for a reason. You win together, you lose together, that’s just the way it is.” 

Tony took a shaky breath. The anger that had been bubbling up in him since last year was simmering out and even the urge to throw a right hook at Cap’s perfect jawline was no longer at the forefront of his mind. 

“Stark?” Sam asked. Tony looked to the Airman. “We can’t do this without you and you can’t do it without us. Come on, man.” Tony and Sam had never been close. Stark didn’t blame Wilson for Rhodey’s injury and he had always respected the man. He now looked at him and everything started to sink in. 

“My legacy hasn’t always been one I’ve been proud of,” Tony began. “I like to think that in the past seven years, I’ve managed to change it for the better. A lot of that is in thanks to all of you.” Tony faced Cap. “I can’t trust you, not yet. It’s going to take a long time, but for now, I think I can let some of the anger go.” 

“I don’t expect you to trust me, but I told you I was with you on this. One thing at a time,” Cap said. 

“Starting with taking back our home?” Clint asked. “Cause I sort of need a place to sleep that isn’t a supply crate.” Tony rolled his eyes as the tension was alleviated.  

“Yes, Barton, we will make sure you have a comfy bed to sleep in,” Tony said. He then turned to Fury. “Thanks.” 

“I told you I’d always be here to help you finish the job. Sometimes you all just need a little tough love,” Fury said. “Now how about we move on and start to get down to business again?” 

“Probably for the best,” Tony agreed. “So, any ideas?”

“I agree with Tony,” Natasha said, suddenly. Everyone looked at her. “In that, we can’t think like the Avengers. We have to think like them. If we go in guns blazing then it won’t end well for any of us.” 

“Battle plans,” Wanda said. “That’s more like it.” Tony turned his head to look at her with his brows raised. “What?” 

“Nothing,” he said with a small smile. 

“It would be nice to have some more backup,” Steve said. “Any luck contacting Rhodes?” Tony shook his head. 

“Spider-Man doesn’t seem to be doing anything of interest at the moment,” Fury said casually. Tony whirled on him.

“You saw the kid?” Tony asked. 

“Is he okay?” asked Wanda. 

“He’s fine. Swinging around like usual. Found him outside of SI headquarters. Said he was doing a job for you, Stark,” Fury explained. 

“He was,” Tony nodded. “So he did it then?”

“Seems like it.” 

“Good, that’s good. I knew he’d come through,” Tony said and the relief on his face was clear. 

“HYDRA has taken over your building though,” Fury informed him. “I’m surprised I didn’t arrive to see half the building webbed up.” 

“I told him not to be seen,” Tony said. “I’m surprised he actually listened to me for once. That kid is going to make me go gray one of these days.” 

“Spider-Man is a kid?” Cap asked. “The one you brought to Leipzig?” Tony pursed his lips, trying to think of an answer that would sound convincing. 

“I wouldn’t say  _ kid, _ ” Clint interjected. “More like teenager.” 

“A rather intelligent teenager,” Vision continued. 

“Who is also really nice,” finished Wanda. 

“You’ve all met him?” Sam asked, clearly remembering his first encounter with the webslinger. 

“In one way or another,” Clint said with a nod. 

“I am not involving the kid,” Tony said. 

“Seems like he’s already involved,” Fury pointed out. 

“I am not involving the kid,  _ further,”  _ Tony clarified. 

“Good luck with that,” Vision said as he knew Peter quite well at this point. Tony grimaced. 

“Why don’t we all just take a breather for a bit and then regroup to figure out our plan, okay?” Natasha offered. 

“Good idea,” Tony said as he turned and walked from the group as he went to try to contact Pepper once again. 

* * *

A bit turned into a couple of hours.

Around the safe house, the team sparred, talked, and just tried to clear their heads. Tony gave up on trying to establish communication and went a few rounds with Wanda. 

“So, my speech wasn’t enough?” Wanda asked as she advanced on him. They were working hand to hand combos. No magic or tech allowed. He had pinned her twice already. 

“Sometimes you have to hear it more than once, you know?” Tony said as he blocked her two jabs and twisted out of the way of her second advance. 

“Doesn’t seem fair,” she said, going in low, but missed again. 

“Nothing in life is fair, Red,” Tony said with a grin. 

“I think you should call Peter in to help,” Clint said, careful to keep his voice low.

“He has enough to worry about,” Tony said, securing Wanda in a headlock. 

“Yeah he does,” said Clint.  “He worries about you. I caught that from the brief call on the plane.”

“It’s a lot more apparent when you see them together in person,” said Wanda as she fought behind Tony’s forearms. 

“He’s strong, right?” Clint asked. 

“Incredibly,” Vision confirmed. Clint and the android were watching the mechanic and the witch fight as they brainstormed. 

“Then I don’t see the problem.”

“The problem,” Tony said, “is that he’s sixteen and doesn’t need to kicking Nazi ass just yet.” Wanda hooked her leg around his and brought him down in a quick maneuver. Tony hit the ground and Wanda pinned his arms. 

“He told me that he took down an arms-dealer who sold Chitauri technology,” said Wanda. “I think he can handle a few HYDRA mercenaries.” 

“When did he tell you about the Vulture?” Tony asked. 

“When you were napping on his couch."

“Hmm,” Tony mused as he flipped her over, securing her arm behind her back. “Nice to know you two became friends.” 

“He likes me more,” Wanda said.

“I doubt that.”

“He told me.”

“He did not!” Tony gasped, losing his grip. Wanda slipped out of his arm and with a twitch of her fingers, had him lashed to the floor with her magic.

“No, he didn’t, but it was a good distraction.”

“That’s cheating,” Tony pointed out. Wanda smiled. 

“Nothing in life is fair.” Clint snorted at that one. 

“Very funny, now let me up,” Tony said. Wanda instantly released him and offered her hand and pulled him to his feet. “Okay, real talk, how are we getting into the Compound?” 

“From above?” Clint offered. 

“Maybe…” Tony said and then whistled at Steve and gestured him over. 

“What is it?” Cap asked as he approached Stark. Nat, Fury, and Sam followed behind. 

“You and Wilson used to run training exercises in the woods around the facility, right?” Cap nodded. 

“At least once a week. Why?” 

“We could use the trees for our advantage,” Tony said. “Move within them and strike when needed. Wilson and Barton can get to the roof and enter from the access point there while we take the sides.” Cap considered it for a moment before he nodded again. 

“I like it, but how do we get near the Compound without being tracked?” 

“The tunnels,” Natasha offered. 

“Compromised,” Wanda said. “We used them to get out the first time. They’re probably being watched by now."

“What tunnels?” Sam asked. 

“I’ll explain later,” Steve said. 

“You know about the tunnels?” Tony asked. Steve rolled his eyes. 

“Fury told me about them,” Cap said. Tony looked at Fury who had been quiet for a while. He now just shrugged. 

“Well, Wanda is right. We can’t use the tunnels,” Tony said. “But if we go on foot from the water, we should be good to go.” 

“I can get you a boat. One that won’t be detectable,” Fury said, already pulling out his phone. 

“The two of us can plan out the attack,” Steve said to Tony. “You take one side, I’ll take the other?” 

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Tony nodded. Cap returned the gesture and then went to bring up the map of the Compound to start planning things out. As the rest of the team followed, Vision pulled Tony aside. “What’s wrong?” 

“Do you think we are able to work together as a single unit again?” Vision asked. 

“I think we can make it work for what we need to do right now. We can hash out everything else later. Are you worried?” Vision tilted his head slightly. 

“Ultron is something we need to have complete clarity on. Nobody can be distracted. I am concerned that that clarity is in jeopardy.” 

“He’s really gotten into your head again, hasn’t he?” 

“It is bothering me that this is too unknown at the moment. I do not like that I do not understand his motives or even if he has any at the moment.” 

“It’s bugging me too, buddy, but the team isn’t going to let anyone hurt Wanda and we’re going to get Ultron,” Tony assured him. 

“I hope you are right,” Vision said. 

“I always am and besides, the two of us plus Maximoff were who Ultron feared most. If he’s anything like the one we knew, he’ll falter.” Tony headed back towards the team. “Just make sure you hold onto that stone of yours.” Tony joined Cap as they went over the plan. 

Vision watched the team and even he could sense that nothing was going to be the same between them. He only hoped that none of them would pay for the distrust that wove between the Avengers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be uploaded yesterday, but I had a rough day so I needed a breather. Thrones finale tonight so I'll get started on the next one later. 
> 
> Sorry if you were expecting some big fight. Nick Fury just has a habit of showing up to bug his heroes. 
> 
> Obviously, over time (as seen in end game) Tony and Steve work things out, but this is the first time they are seeing each other and I had to add some of that tension. 
> 
> Also, Nick Fury trying to get his idiot kids in line is what I live for. 
> 
> Up next: The team takes back the Compound


	3. A Damaged Victory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team takes back the Compound

“Fury says the boat is ready when we are. He’s given me the coordinates.” 

Tony nodded to Natasha as she typed away on her datapad. Fury had left a few hours before and made to sure to arrange the transport the team needed for their plan. Tony wasn’t thrilled to be suiting up with the rogues again so soon, but everyone agreed that they needed to be back on their own turf to figure out all this HYDRA nonsense. Taking back the Compound had to be the first step. 

As far as gear went, they were short-handed. Tony had his suit, Clint had his bow, and Sam still has his pack, but everyone else was going on low supply ammo and anything they had managed to smuggle before leaving to go off the grid. Stark avoided looking at Steve as they finished getting ready to move out. This would be the first time he would fight alongside the captain without Rogers bearing his iconic shield. The item was still locked up in the armor hall where Tony had stored it. He had placed it there once he had gotten home from Siberia and hadn’t looked at it since. 

Tony took a few breaths to calm himself. This mission wasn’t anything new for them. The team had taken bases and large areas before with complete success, but the usual unity they felt was obviously missing. They had called a truce in a sense. Tony didn’t want to argue with Steve and he knew that wouldn’t help anyone if he did. So, he kept his mouth shut, but to anyone on the outside, it was very clear that the Avengers weren’t the single unit that they once were. 

As Natasha fastened Clint’s quiver to his back, she was looking at Tony. Stark caught her eye again that day and raised his brows at her. “ _ What?”  _ He mouthed. Nat just shook her head once and finished helping Barton. 

“She’s acting strange,” Wanda said as she came up behind Tony. The witch was dressed in her red leather once again and her hair fanned across her shoulders. Peaking out the top of the vest she wore, Tony could see the scars that started just below her collarbones. The ones he had made when he had restarted her heart. He averted his eyes quickly. If Wanda had noticed, she didn’t comment. 

“I can see that,” Tony answered as he fastened his nanotech casing to a better fitting shirt. Wanda placed a comlink into her ear as she glanced around the room. 

“I think Steve wants me on his team to flank the West side of the facility,” Wanda said. Tony nodded. 

“I know. Are you good with that?” he asked. 

“It’s fine,” she assured him. “Just may be a bit awkward is all.” Tony finished with his suit and turned to her, brushing off some dirt from her shoulder. 

“You two can have awkward conversations later. We have a job to do. Remind him of that if he tries to go down memory lane,” Tony told her. Wanda nodded to him as she rolled out her wrists. Tony did a precheck on his AI as the two of them waited in silence. 

“Are you going to tell them about Peter?” Wanda asked suddenly. Tony put his phone down to give her his full attention. 

“No, and I would appreciate it if you, Vision, and Clint didn’t either,” Tony said. Wanda dipped her chin, glancing to the aforementioned men. 

“I figured as much. Just wanted to make sure so I didn’t screw up,” Wanda said with a small smile.

“Spider-Man is one thing. I don’t care if they know he works with us or that he’s not exactly a man, but it wouldn’t be fair to him if I just outed his identity like that,” Tony said. 

“So this is not about you not wanting Steve to know your kid?” 

“As I said, it’s not my place to tell people who Spider-Man is.” Wanda gave him a look and he was reminded of when she and Vision had first met Peter. “That was different. I told you two because we were in a dangerous situation. As of right now, there is no dire reason to do it. Do I want Steve around him? Not really, but it’s not ultimately my decision. He’s sixteen, not six.” 

“And if Peter decides to unmask and introduce himself?” Wanda asked. Tony shrugged with a sigh.

“Then that is his decision. I may care a lot about him, but I don’t control him.” It was true. Howard had put so much pressure on Tony as he grew up. Always had to be the best and not tarnish the Stark name. Tony was going to make sure that whatever Peter did in his life, he had complete control over it. It was all he and May wanted for him. 

“You’re good for him,” Wanda said. 

“Thanks.”  Wanda squeezed his shoulder once before going over to Vision who had found her some gloves to wear. The thought of Peter Parker gave Tony that extra fuel he needed for a battle. HYDRA was not afraid to kill innocents and Peter was a hero as innocent as you could get. His strength made him a target and Tony would do everything in his power to keep Spider-Man out of the organization’s crosshairs. If he couldn’t do that, he would make sure he was fighting alongside the spider if it came down to a fight. At least that way, he would know that his kid was safe. 

Across the room, Steve stood up from his seat and looked to Stark, giving him a single nod. Tony returned the gesture. He got up as well and made his way through the warehouse. It was time to take their home back. 

* * *

Moving across cold rivers when a massive storm is on the horizon wasn’t the most ideal of situations, but they had to deal with what they had.

Fury had provided the team with a stealth speeder that S.H.I.E.L.D. had developed years ago. It was near silent as it cruised over the dark water. Sam stood at the bow, his goggles on to track for any obstacles in the way as they kept the speeder dark so they weren’t detected. 

Tony’s armor shone in the moonlight as they moved through the dark. Beside him, Natasha stood with her back straight and her eyes forward. He could tell she had been meaning to say something to him all day, but either she hadn’t had the chance or just didn’t have the right words. He couldn’t guess what was on the Russian’s mind, but then again, he never could. 

Wanda was with Vision and Steve at the stern while Clint operated the boat. They were going to be infiltrating from the beach on the other side of the Compound that would lead them through the dense trees that made up the perimeter. Cap and Tony had already formulated the plan and were both positive it would work. That is if Tony was right and only a portion of HYDRA’s army had stayed behind. However, he had been wrong before. 

Wanda was to go with Steve to the West while Tony and Natasha took the East. Clint and Sam were going in from above near the training rooms to get access to the main building while Vision made his way to the sublevels to secure the armory and Tony’s suits. The armor hall was still locked up tight considering F.R.I.D.A.Y. hadn’t blown the grounds to smithereens so Tony relaxed at that small win. 

Sam signaled ahead to stop and Clint slowed the boat, stalling it in the darkness of the river. Tony had suggested disembarking from the river in case HYDRA had patrols on the beach. Steve had actually commended Tony on the bright idea and Stark had instantly rolled his eyes, earning a jab from Wanda. 

“Get to the beach as quietly as you can,” Steve said as the speeder swayed below them. The flyers grabbed their partners and one by one left the speeder behind. Vision gripped Clint’s arm and flew him the short distance across the water, landing silently. Sam unfurled his wings and took Steve just as easily. Clearly not their first time doing that particular maneuver. As Wanda ignited her hands and carried herself over, Tony took hold on Nat. 

His thrusters weren’t as stealthy as he would have liked, but the rushing water drowned them out enough as he touched down in the sand. Natasha typed in a few commands on her transponder and the speeder’s autopilot activated and slowly headed back to wherever Fury was waiting for it. 

“Sam?” Cap addressed as they all stepped together in a small circle. 

“Redwing is over now,” Wilson said as he watched the feed through his goggles. Sam had sent his drone just as they rounded the river bend in hopes of getting a better vantage point. “There are guards at the perimeter as well as the inner courtyard. Snipers on the roof too,” Sam informed them. 

“And inside? Thermals?” Clint asked. 

“I can only make out the first level. I would have to get closer to get more accurate readings,” Sam said. 

“Stay high,” Tony told him. “We’ll need the element of surprise.” Sam nodded to him before closing the drones feed. A moment later, Redwing was soaring back towards them out of the cloud cover. It easily snapped back into place on Sam’s pack. 

“Sam, you and Clint stay invisible but get to the training rooms as quickly as possible. We will wait for your signal to start closing in,” Cap began. “As soon as you give us an estimate on what we’re dealing with we’ll move in.” 

“Wanda,” continued Tony, “you’ll need to take out the power and the cameras just as you did a few weeks back.” 

“Easy enough,” she said and Tony could see the gears already turning in her head. 

“I’ll activate the perimeter force field so we keep this contained,” said Tony. “Let’s try not to take prisoners on this one.” Silence rolled across the team, but they all understood. If they were to let any agent go, then it would get back to Ross. Tony wasn’t concerned about the Secretary finding out he, Wanda, and Clint were back in town, but he wanted to keep Vision, Steve, Natasha, and Sam off the radar as long as possible. 

“Let’s get going,” Cap said and Sam and Clint headed into the trees. Vision kissed Wanda on the cheek before heading into the skies.

“Wait for my signal,” Tony told Wanda. 

“I’ll meet you inside,” she said. They bumped forearms and then Tony and Natasha went one way while Steve and Wanda went the other. 

Tony keep his helmet retracted as they weaved their way through the dense trees. Natasha expertly picked her way across fallen branches and rocks as she followed. “What was with the arm thing?” Natasha asked after a few moments. 

“A couple of weeks ago, Wanda and I were training. She had to get her powers under control so I was helping her with her targeting. When she had finally gotten a few hits in, she went in for a high five, but my hands were still pretty banged up so she tapped my arm with hers,” Tony said with a shrug. 

“How cute, you two have a special handshake,” Nat said with a small smile. 

“Shut up, Romanoff.” He helped her over a fallen tree, careful not to spook any of the wildlife that lived in the area. They were quiet for a while longer before Natasha spoke again. 

“I wanted to thank you,” she whispered. 

“For what?”

“For keeping her safe. For saving her life,” Natasha explained. “I don’t think I need to tell you how much she means to me.” 

“She’s special,” Tony said as he came to a stop. They could see the woods starting to thin out. “I don’t know what would have happened if…” Tony trailed off, turning his eyes skyward. 

“Let’s not focus on the ‘what ifs’, okay?” Nat proposed. 

“Good plan.”. 

“Though, I have to say that it’s nice to see the two of you getting along,” Natasha said as they continued forward. 

“A rocky start, but we’ve grown closer,” Tony explained. “I guess I just finally  _ listened  _ to her, you know? Instead of seeing what she did in the past, I finally saw Wanda and not…” 

“Not what HYDRA made her?” Natasha guessed.

“Exactly.”

“Do you think you could do the same thing with another adversary turned ally?” Natasha asked quietly. Tony went rigid. 

“Barnes is different,” Tony said, his jaw tight. 

“The situation is different,” Natasha said, “but Barnes is...it wasn’t his fault, Tony.” 

“I know that,” Tony said, trying to keep himself calm. “Look, can we not talk about this right now?” He asked as he took a step over a log, but before Natasha could answer, her eyes zeroed in on something. She reacted. A second later and Natasha was grabbing Tony’s arm, jamming her foot before his. They both froze as they beheld what Stark had nearly walked right through.

A trip wire.

“Nice catch,” Tony breathed. Nat slowly detangled her leg from his and followed the line. “They knew we’d come.” 

“No, they didn’t,” Natasha explained as she bent down near a smaller tree. She removed a knife from her boot and quickly cut the wire. She held up the end to her eye. “I’d know Hill’s work anywhere. These are ours. We used them for training and security. Proximity detectors.”

“Would have been something worth mentioning,” Tony said, crossing his arms. 

“We got rid of them when the force field was programmed. We’re a bit out of the way, we must have missed some.”

“How far did they stretch?” Tony asked. Natasha looked West and then placed her finger to her ear. 

“Steve, be wary of trip wires. You set one of those off and we’re done for,” Nat spoke quickly into the com. Tony watched as she heard Cap’s response. Nat nodded to Tony who relaxed slightly. “They’ll keep their eyes open.” 

“Good.”. He checked their surroundings and then pointed up a small hill. “I think this is our vantage point.” The two Avengers left the trip wire behind and crested the hill. A deep sigh echoed from Natasha as she beheld the building before them. 

The Avengers facility was lit and even with their enemy behind and around its walls, it looked beautiful. “Welcome home,” Tony said softly to her. 

“It’s good to be home,” she whispered. “Now let’s go get it back.” 

* * *

Wanda could no longer make out Vision’s flying form above them.

Her eyes were cast downward now as she and Steve made their way through the forest. Steve had already cut one wire after Natasha’s warning and they were now scanning for any more as they pushed through the trees. A part of Wanda just wanted to lash out at anything she could find, bring the whole forest down, but they had to be smart on this one. Her power was restless in her bones and it was taking a lot to keep herself calm as she approached where she knew HYDRA was lying in wait. 

Steve walked before her, his head tilting back and forth as he listened to the world around them. Neither of them had spoken a word and she wasn’t sure if she should be the one to say something first or not. Even on stealth missions, there was always chatter going on across the coms, but now it was silent. Maybe she  _ should  _ have gone with Tony. 

Suddenly, Steve raised his fist and she instantly stopped behind him. In the distance, she could make out a bright light swinging back and forth. Some sort of searchlight. As it coasted near them, they both hit the ground. As it passed, Wanda got a better look. The HYDRA operatives were using the highest point as some sort of watchtower.

“Seems like they’ve taken over most of the residences,” Wanda said, breaking the silence as she ducked back down. 

“The doors are biometrically locked,” Steve reminded her, but Wanda shook her head. 

“Not anymore,” she told him. Steve’s brow furrowed. “Tony changed a lot when we left.” Steve glanced up from their hiding spot. He could now see large divots in the grounds as if bombs had been dropped. Multiple vehicles were overturned and large burn marks scarred the earth. “They did a full assault when they first attacked. Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy managed to get a quinjet, but it seems like everything else caught a fair amount of damage.” Steve dropped back out of sight. 

“How are your powers? Are they still stable?” Steve asked her. 

“I’m in complete control,” she said. “Trust me.” 

“I do trust you,” he said, his voice lower than usual. 

“We have to wait for Tony’s signal, might as well tell me what’s wrong,” Wanda said, instantly recognizing that Steve had something to say. She heard Tony telling her to keep this professional in her head, but she ignored it. 

“Nothing’s  _ wrong _ ,” he told her. “I just need one answer.” Wanda waited for him to continue. “Why did you go to Tony for help?” Wanda didn’t answer right away. Steve waited patiently as she considered his question. 

“I suppose,” Wanda began, “I wanted someone to help me who wasn’t a friend, but who wasn’t an enemy either.” 

“Why?”

“Stark is brilliant. He’s the most intelligent person I’ve ever met and he knows how to compartmentalize. That first night, when I came here, he didn’t want to see me or even hear me out,” Wanda explained, “but then he saw how my powers were acting up and that I was hurt. He instantly brought me into the medical wing and tried to help me. Even though he was angry and didn’t trust me, he still tried to fix what was wrong. Because he could or at least he hoped he could. I didn’t come here because I wanted Iron Man, Steve. I came here because I needed Tony Stark.” Steve stared at her as she spoke and it all started to sink in. 

“You needed the brain not the brawn,” he said, nodding. 

“Exactly and in the end, I got the brain, the brawn, and the heart to be my friend. He was able to trust me again and I, him. We’ve been through a lot together in the past couple of weeks and I don’t know what would have happened to me without him.” 

“I know that feeling,” said Steve.

“I know you do. So, I hope you know that I wasn’t choosing one side over another. I was choosing to do what was going to save my life and he was it. He still is.” 

“I understand and I am incredibly grateful to him for saving your life, Wanda,” Steve said sincerely. “One day I hope that when I tell him that, he’ll believe me.”

“He’ll believe you now. No matter what, Steve, he never stopped caring for any of us. Just as we never stopped caring for him or Rhodey.” Steve considered her for a moment before giving her a small smile. 

“You’ve changed, Wanda,” he told her. 

“I know and I like to think its for the better,” she said. 

“Trust me, it is.” 

“I do trust you.”

“Good because I’ve missed having you by my side in a fight,” Steve knocked her shoulder. 

“Just make sure you can keep up.”

* * *

On the North side of the facility, Clint and Sam landed on the roof of the training rooms.

Sam tucked in his wings as Clint gripped his bow. The two men made their way across the room and to the access hatch. “Entering the building now,” Clint said into the coms as they pulled up the hatch over the storage closet and one after the other, lowered themselves through the ceiling. 

Hawkeye and Falcon were ghosts as they moved from the storage room and into the main hallway. Clint kept an arrow notched and his eyes up as he listened for any signs of hostiles. “We have to get to the main room,” Sam told him quietly. Clint nodded and halted them as he peered around the corner. There were two HYDRA agents at the end of the hall. Clint raised the number two over his shoulder and Sam checked his guns, but Clint shook his head. 

“No guns,” He whispered. Barton drew a second arrow and notched it next to the first. He took a breath and then in one easy move, stepped from their hiding spot, aimed, and released. The two projectiles hit both men, instantly dropping them. Clint and Sam quickly made their way over to them and took their weapons in case they fired back, but Hawkeye had done his job and both had died instantly. Clint retrieved the arrows and he and Sam dragged the bodies into a nearby supply closet. 

“Nice shot,” Sam complimented. Clint winked at him, causing Sam to roll his eyes. They kept their ears open for any more movement as they moved further into the building, but they weren’t finding any more squids on patrol. That is until they made it to the main training room. The largest room was three stories high with reinforced glass stretching from floor to ceiling. Clint noticed the new addition of the platforms along the ceiling. He figured they were for Peter but didn’t comment. 

Hidden in the dark of the highest level, Sam and Clint could see at least twenty armed guards who had taken up the room as their own. “Were these the thermals you were seeing?” Clint asked. Sam shook his head. 

“This is another group,” Wilson figured. 

“Think we can take them?” Clint asked as he noted their enemies weapons and  _ their  _ lack of body armor. 

“Not without making a scene,” Sam said. “Wanda is going to have to take the power out first.” It was those words that made Clint realize something. He reached over and tapped at a panel in the wall, but there was no response. 

“They’ve deactivated F.R.I.D.A.Y.,” Clint said.

“Can you turn her back on?” 

“Not from here.” Clint shook his head. “Stark will have to do a proper reboot in his main lab or the reactor room. They’ve all but ripped her out root and stem.”

“Probably didn’t want Stark spying on them,” offered Sam.

“Or because they wanted to upload their own AI,” Clint said with a knowing look. 

“Is Ultron as bad as he sounds?” Sam asked. Clint grimaced but nodded. 

“He can be. Which is why we need to get our AI back before they get theirs up.”

“How do we know that Ultron isn’t already in the system?” Sam asked as he nervously looked at a computer on the lower level. 

“We don’t,” Clint said between his teeth. He then activated his com. “Hostiles in the main training room, around two dozen. More within the building. We took out two on the upper levels, but without proper gear, we’re gonna need back up.” 

“We’re moving in now,” Cap confirmed. Clint and Sam looked to one another as they waited for the lights to go out. 

* * *

The four Avengers on the perimeter closed in.

They kept to the treeline, just out of sight. HYDRA agents were dotted around the grounds, all armed. Wanda’s rage bubbled in her chest as she beheld their symbol on their uniforms. Flashes of blood, pain, and icy roads flew into her mind as the past six months ran through her head. They had nearly killed her all so they could have her back in their clutches for Ultron. Her hands ignited causing Steve to jump slightly. From the look in his eyes, she figured her irises were glowing as well.

Her powered wavered around her, ready to obey her every will. From across the grounds, her eyes caught a glowing bright light pulsating in the dark. Tony’s repulsor. Wanda stood from their hiding spot and stepped from the tree line.

Instantly, shouts of alarm echoed across the facility as the witch came into view, her crimson magic illuminating her. They were yelling at her to stand down, but they weren’t shooting. With a slight tilt of her head, Wanda threw her arms out and tendrils of power rolled off of her. Her magic dug deep into the Compound, targetting the power cells and auxiliary systems. She was careful not to touch the main reactor, but every other wire was shorted out and the lights went out in a matter of seconds. 

As soon as the Compound went dark, HYDRA began firing. Wanda erected a shield, keeping the bullets at bay as she advanced on the hostiles herself. A swarm of agents filed out of the main building, guns blazing. The spotlight that must have been running off a different power source assaulted Wanda, blinding her for a moment. The light was cut off by a loud blast. Wanda blinked a few times before she saw Tony overhead, his weapons raining fire.

From behind her, Steve ran at the first agent he could find. To say that the squid was shocked to see Captain America charging him was an understatement. Cap took him down quickly and kept moving. One by one, the soldiers fell around him. Wanda assisted him, shielding him when she could, blasting squids at the same time. 

Across the law, Natasha ripped through a line of agents, her stun batons dropping agents left and right. From the training room, gunshots erupted as Clint and Falcon joined the fight. Above, Tony took out the snipers with quick shots of his repulsors. Movement atop the hangar caught Wanda’s eye and she was moving before anyone was. She got close enough just as an agent fired a shell towards Tony. Wanda lashed out at the projectile, holding it in the air with little effort. She then redirected the explosive toward a row of enemy transports, blowing them to nothing. Tony took out the hostile on the hangar with a single flyover. 

He landed next to her among the fray. “Thanks, Red,” he said. His voice slightly muffled by his helmet. 

“Does this count as the element of surprise?” Wanda asked as she looked around. Tony fired into a group that was coming up behind them. 

“After the way you entered looking like a deadly cherry sundae, I’d say yes!” Tony said as he flew off again. Wanda couldn’t help the smile on her face as she flew toward the landing pad and continued the fight. Her adrenaline was pumping and she had to admit, it felt good to be fighting alongside her team again.

Natasha and Steve were fighting back to back. 

“I really could use a shield right about now,” Steve grunted as he dodged a quick-fire assault from an agent. 

“You’re Captain America,” Nat said as she fired two shots into a group. “Make one.” The Black Widow rolled out from where the two had taken cover and sent her taser discs into a group of agents who were reloading. Steve looked around when he saw an overturned vehicle that Wanda had just blown up. He ran for it and with a quick kick, broke the door from the burning metal. With a firm grip on his makeshift shield, Cap ran towards Natasha who had joined Wanda in taking out hostiles. 

He fought with deadly accuracy as he took down agent after agent. Natasha smirked as she saw him, but there wasn’t time for a quick jab as explosions echoed from inside the hangar. Tony dove toward the building, going in low to grab Natasha’s waiting hand. Stark grabbed Romanoff and together they flew toward the hangar doors. Tony busted them open and the two of them took down the hostiles within. 

Cap tried to see through the smoke, but he could only see short bursts of electricity and Tony’s repulsors. He refocused on the fight. “We have to get inside the main building!” Cap called. 

“We’re moving that way!” Sam called over the coms. 

“Vision!” Tony called over the line. “Natasha and I are trying to clean up over here, get to the reactor room and activate the perimeter.” 

“On my way,” Vision spoke clearly. “Armory secure, hostiles down in sublevel and first level basement and garage.”

“Tony, I’ll get Natasha, you breach the front doors!” Cap ordered and was expecting Tony to snap at him, but Stark flew from the hangar as Cap ran towards it. Just as Steve clocked Natasha finishing off a group of enemies, the sky lit up with the force field that Tony had programmed after Sokovia. 

Natasha swung up onto a woman’s shoulder and took her down with a quick maneuver. She spotted Steve and went to say something when he suddenly threw the door towards her. Nat ducked as it sailed overhead, careening into the two remaining agents. Nat brushed off the dirt from her pants. “A little warning, Rogers?” she said as she joined him outside. 

“I knew you’d duck,” he simply said. She rolled her eyes as they made their way back to Wanda. Just as they approached her, a group of twenty came out of the annex and before Nat or Steve could even attempt to take them out, Wanda took them out in a single sweep of power. The psionic energy rolled across the lawn and slammed into the HYDRA operatives. She let out a scream as she lashed out at them and then raised her hands and crushed the remaining transports and weaponry left behind. Her eyes were smoldering when she eventually released her hold on the world around her. 

Steve and Natasha shared a look that was a mixture of awe and concern. 

“We’re clear up here,” Sam said over the line. 

“Here a well,” confirmed Vision. 

“We’re good out here too,” Wanda informed the team. “Tony, what’s your status?” But there was no response. Wanda and Steve locked eyes before they rushed the building with Nat on their six. 

* * *

Stark made his way through the halls, taking out any remaining hostile, but he was sure Wanda had just taken out the last of them and that Clint and Sam could snipe any who were hiding.

A moment later and the lights started to flicker on as Vision reset the breakers. As the rest of the team converged on the compound to confirm they had taken out the rest of the squids, Tony headed for his lab.

Broken glass covered the floor and he frowned as he saw the many bullet holes in the walls. As he pushed into the residences, his anger rose higher. His home was destroyed. Tony wasn’t sure if it was from this fight or the initial one or perhaps HYDRA had gotten bored and decided to do some redecorating. He couldn’t be sure as they had deactivated F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s access to the facility.

He was glad to know that the armory wasn’t touched. The last thing he needed was for HYDRA to get their hands on any of his prototypes. Suits and guns were one thing, his nanotechnology was a whole other.

As he climbed the stairs to the second level he came across an injured agent who must have come from the training rooms considering the arrow that jutted from his shoulder. Tony stared down at the man before slamming him into the floor, knocking him out. They would have to call Fury to get this mess cleaned up. Maybe taking no prisoners wasn’t a smart idea. There had been too much death in their lives. He made a note in his head to get trusted agents on site as soon as possible. 

Shaking away the thoughts of death and destruction, Tony finally arrived at his lab and nearly punched through the wall. The entire laboratory was destroyed. Stark rushed in, taking in the damage. From his main workbenches to the small corner that Peter had occupied when he had to work on his web fluid, it was all in pieces. 

His main screens and holotable were still intact, but all of his current projects were torn apart. Huge hard drives were torn from the walls and even his bots had been severely damaged. Tony ran his hand over U, trying to asses how much he would have to fix when he noticed something that made his blood run cold. 

In the corner of the lab, panels lay ripped to shreds. Tony hurried to them only feel absolute dread and then full blown rage. Three of his suits were missing. He had kept them in the lab to use for parts and for easy access rather than calling down to the hall every time. In a flash of anger, Tony grabbed the closest thing to him and threw it across the room. The large piece of tech crashed into another, but he didn’t stop. 

Every emotion came crashing onto him and Tony lost it. Ultron had his suits. He had his tech and Tony didn’t know how to fix it. He didn’t know how to fix any of it. Tony threw more things, blasted them with his gauntlets, and eventually just started yelling.

The other arrived quickly after securing the compound and froze as they saw the billionaire in despair. Steve watched on as he realized just how wrecked Tony Stark really was. This wasn’t just frustration, this was pure rage as he realized how much had been taken from him. Wanda took a breath as she watched Stark blast out a window. Nobody moved until Clint showed up. He watched Tony for less than a second before rushing into the warzone of a lab. 

“Tony, stop!” Clint said as he approached the man.

“He has the suits, Clint. He has the suits,” Tony said, his expression a mixture of defeat and outrage. “He’s going to build himself a body if he hasn’t already and it’s going to be like Sokovia all over again.”

“No it’s not,” Clint said as he took hold of Tony by the shoulders and forced him to look at him. “I came with you and Wanda because I had to fight for my family,  _ both _ of my families. Don’t clock out on me now, big man. Not after everything. You use that big ass brain of yours and get us through this.” Tony gripped Clint’s arms and nodded. Clint pressed his forehead against Tony’s. “He didn’t win last time and he won’t this time. Not if we both can help it. Alright?” 

“Alright,” Tony said, calming down. They separated and Clint hit him on the back. 

“We need you, man.” Tony nodded and then looked to the others outside the lab. Before he could say anything the holoscreens lit up around them. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.?” Tony asked. 

_ “Not exactly,”  _ a chilling voice echoed through the room. Nobody moved as for the first time in three years, Ultron spoke to them.  _ “Did you really think you were going to get out of this one so easily. You may have won this one, Stark, but don’t think the game is over.”  _ Images of war and famine flickered across the screens.  _ “I told you once that you were my meteor, Avengers. And still, when the dust settles for the second time, it will just be me and those who follow the way the world should be. Although, I should be thanking you, Stark.”  _ Tony swallowed, his fists tightening. 

“For what? Your new set of wheels?” Tony bit out. 

_ “I’ve been catching up on current events and you made me realize that I don’t need to evolve to rule. I just need to break apart those who would try to stop me. Let’s see how long this truce of yours lasts, shall we?”  _ The room lit up crimson as Wanda took out the screens, shutting Ultron off from their servers. In the dark of the lab with only the slightly mechanical sounds of Tony’s armor, the team took a collective breath. 

They may have gotten their home back, but at what cost? 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's that. 
> 
> I wanted Ultron to be introduced in this one for a split second. 
> 
> HYDRA needs to be exterminated. If anyone has issues with them killing people you haven't been paying attention to the MCU. HYDRA is EVIL. it happens. 
> 
> Tony is PISSED and dont think that Clint is going to be able to calm him down again! 
> 
> Also, Nat and Steve being shook over Wanda's powers is iconic. 
> 
> Up next: Another visitor arrives...


	4. Introductions and Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team is in a post-battle mood. 
> 
> Brainstorming begins. 
> 
> Their team becomes complete.

By the time the sun crested the treeline, the team was exhausted.

Once the battle was done, Natasha had called Fury. The former director was able to rope together a crew of trusted agents to clean up the mess the Avengers and HYDRA had caused.

While Steve and Natasha dealt with S.H.I.E.LD., Tony remained in his lab. After his initial breakdown, he didn’t want to talk to anyone. He didn’t know whether to hate Ultron or himself at that moment. How could have been so naive to think that Ultron wouldn't have found a way back into the system and gain access to his armor?

Clint had stayed by his side for a while. Wanda was drained and as much as she wanted to stay, Vision had helped her to her room for some much-needed rest once everything had calmed down.

It had taken the rest of the night to move the bodies, the extra weapons, and any remaining agents offsite. As soon as the shooting stopped, Cap had made the call to spare the majority. Any injured or hiding agent was taken into custody by Fury’s people. Tony was relieved and also a bit nervous. He only hoped that they managed to get them all.

As soon as Fury left, the team gathered in the main common room of the residences. Wanda had joined them after a couple of hours. Clearly, none of them were in much of a sleeping mood. Sam, Steve, and Natasha were glad to see that their rooms were just as they had left them and quickly changed into their own clothes instead of the ones they had been toting around for months. Sam let Clint borrow some clothing as Barton had only visited the Compound before and never stayed there full time.

It was mid-morning before any of them said anything. The sun streamed into the large room from the wall of windows, warming their faces. The building around them was silent as Tony hadn’t restored power. He didn’t want to give Ultron access again to taunt them. Later, he would work on redirecting the system in hopes of them at least getting their lights back on. The other problem was that they only had one line of communication open and that was to Fury. Tony still couldn’t contact Pepper or Rhodey. Happy’s cell was even offline.

Being cut off from the outside world felt different at the Compound than how it felt at the Barton farm. Being off the grid was one thing, being back on home turf but locked out was a whole other story. Tony caught himself nearly speaking to his AI in hopes that she would offer some comfort, but F.R.I.D.A.Y. was not so readily available at the moment. That would be the first thing he would have to fix.

Sam sauntered into the room carrying a tray. Tony hadn’t even realized he had left. Wilson started handing out mugs of coffee to the group. When he handed one to Tony, Stark realized that Sam had remembered just how everyone had liked theirs and that thought alone gave Tony some peace oddly enough.

“So, what do we do now?” Clint asked as he blew on his coffee mug. “We got the Compound back in somewhat one piece.” He grimaced as he looked at the destruction inside and outside the residences. “What’s our next move?”

“We have to figure out what their mission is,” Natasha said. “Getting Wanda back on their side to fight alongside Ultron isn’t exactly a plan. It’s incredibly vague. We need more information.”

“We also need to find out how far this spreads,” Steve said. Tony found it so strange to see Cap lounging in loose pants and a t-shirt. It was too normal. Tony turned to look out the window. “I can’t imagine that this is only one sect of HYDRA.”

“How many more can there be at this point?” Sam asked. “We all have been hunting these bastards for ages. Some of us since the 40s.”

“They’re an idea,” Tony interjected. “HYDRA is never going to fully go away just like every other hate group won’t. Problem is that _they_ have weapons, armies, and technology that can rival ours.”

“They don’t have Wanda or Vision,” Natasha pointed out. Tony turned to look at the android and the witch who were sitting adjacent to one another on the love seat.

“No, but they know the Mind Stone nearly as well as we do if they’ve shared intel over the years and they know how Wanda’s abilities work,” Stark said.

“So what you’re saying is that we need a secret weapon.” Clint offered.

“We need something to outsmart them other than just our intelligence,” finished Tony.

“I thought we had F.RI.D.A.Y. scanning for any abnormalities,” Steve said. “How did Ultron get back into the internet without us knowing?”

“He’s probably been in there for months and we just didn’t know,” Tony said.  “They’ve had the code matrix since before Wanda was shot. He could have been lying dormant in some dark web server and they just activated him. I couldn’t tell you without a thorough search.”

“But you still have access to F.R.I.D.A.Y, right?” Wanda asked. Tony nodded.

“She’s hardwired into the suits and my smaller tech, she just can’t access the main facility yet. I’ll get her back.”

“If Ultron attacked J.A.R.V.I.S.,” began Vision, “why did he not go after this A.I.?” Tony pondered his question for a moment.

“J knew everything about us,” Tony said. “Ultron needed that information to go after the team. Perhaps he had everything he needed already.”

“Banner said that Ultron went after J.A.R.V.I.S. out of rage and because he was the first defense in the system,” Steve remembered. “Is he not angry this time?”

“I don’t know,” Tony said quietly as he stared into his mug.

“Would you be able to fry his connection again, Viz?” Wanda asked.

“Perhaps, but unless I am able to make contact, I do not know how easy that would be,” said Vision. “However, I had a connection to Ultron the last time he rose to power. I do not have that now.”

“Because this Ultron isn’t trying to take your body for himself,” Clint reminded him.

“Maybe all of this does go back to Sokovia,” Natasha offered.

“What are you thinking?” Cap asked.

“Well, a lot of people died that day, but many also lived or had family in the city. Think about it, Zemo’s Sokovian. He attacked the Accords summit and went after us all because of what Ultron did in Sokovia,” Natasha said. “What if this is another Zemo?”

“In what retrospect?” Tony asked. “In that, this person is trying to get us to destroy one another? Or because they’re another angry Sokovian?”

“The second one,” Nat confirmed.

“That’s a possibility,” said Steve.

“And one that we shouldn’t rule out,” Tony agreed. “Okay, well I have a bunch of files from 2015 on the survivors and any notable missing persons. Once I get us up and running again, I’ll go through it. Though, if someone was trying to carry on Zemo’s wish, there isn’t really a point, is there?”

“What do you mean?” asked Sam.

“Well, according to the world, I’m dead and Wanda’s a killer. Not to mention that the four of you are considered traitors alongside Barnes and Lang so unless they have inside information...we’re not exactly a prime target anymore.”

“It just seems to be one mystery after another,” Clint sighed.

“There is something else that I noticed,” Natasha said. “He said that you taught him something, Tony. He saw what happened in Germany and is realizing he can attempt to pull us apart again, right?” Tony nodded. “He seemed very focused on that. As if he had already decided on that particular course of action.”

“Is that unusual?” Sam asked.

“Ultron was very set on his ideas,” Cap explained, “but he wasn’t afraid to go off the rails and make split decisions. He was always thinking and evolving to the world around him. This seems way too…”

“Scripted?” Tony offered and Cap nodded.

“A bit.”

“So what do we do with that theory?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Steve said.

“What about the theory that someone is controlling Ultron?” Wanda asked. “Not just in the sense that there are more people in charge, but _actually_ typing in commands and running him from a singular place.”

“Ultron isn’t exactly an RC car, Wanda,” Tony pointed out.

“No, but he _was_ designed to be a peacekeeping initiative that you and Banner would control in a sense, correct?” interjected Clint.

“Well, yeah, but it’s still artificial intelligence. You saw how he managed to get stronger and stronger as he learned. That was always the plan. For him to evolve as the world did,” Tony explained.

“Okay, backtrack a second,” continued Clint. “You told me that this could be a different Ultron.”

“I did,” Tony nodded.

“Okay, so what if they managed to change the coding and actually make him controllable. A literal HYDRA puppet.”

“Pinocchio brain…” Tony said, recalling their conversation from Barton’s kitchen.

“Is it possible?” Clint asked.

“Anything is possible, Barton,” Tony confirmed. “Okay, let's say you’re onto something. This brings us back to Nat’s question. Who is running this show and what is their end game?”

“What about Ross?” Cap asks. “He’s been after us for years and we all know just how power hungry he can get. Look what he did to Bruce.”

“I don’t think it’s Ross,” Sam said, shaking his head. “It just doesn’t seem like his style.”

“I agree with Wilson,” Tony said, surprising even himself. “Ross is many things, but he’s not completely evil even if he does work alongside the squids at times.”

“Wow, Stark and Wilson agreeing on something,” Clint said. “Didn’t see that one coming.” Sam threw a pillow at the archer.

“I’m just saying, why would someone who was so hell-bent on us signing the Accords do this just to destroy the entire thing. Doesn’t make sense to me,” Tony clarified, ignoring Clint’s comment. The group mulled over all the possibilities, trying to come up with other answers that didn’t implicate their Secretary of State. Tony was almost sure it was an unknown adversary that was behind it. He couldn’t fathom that it would be anyone on their radar. He had been so careful since Germany.

While the others were on the run, he, Vision, and Rhodey were constantly tracking all of the possible threats that could arise. Peter was even doing his part as he went after the Vulture and his associates. While Tony had been upset that the teen had gone behind his back, he and the city of New York were glad that the young hero managed to stop the illegal arms dealers.

As the team discussed, Tony noticed Natasha. She wasn’t putting in her two cents as much, but she was definitely paying attention. Any time someone would offer their opinion, the Black Widow was listening intently. After being away from her for more than a year, Tony had forgotten how intense she could be. At times it was as if Romanoff was the mind reader and not Maximoff.

Even amongst all of the destruction, the team had slipped into their familiar demeanor. It was as if everything that had happened the previous year had disappeared. They debated things, laughed, made jabs at one another just as they once did. A part of Tony wanted to slip back into that feeling of camaraderie, but there was a small part of him that was telling him not to trust this friendly mood. He wished he didn’t have it, but he couldn’t help it.

He snapped out of his thoughts when Wanda spoke up.

“What about any other HYDRA operatives that went dark after the Triskellion fell?” she asked. “I remember reading all about that.” When HYDRA was exposed for being within the inner workings of S.H.I.E.L.D., it was complete and utter chaos. Tony hadn’t been surprised to hear that the Nazi organization had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., but it was quite the shock to hear the specifics of Project Insight. He would never admit it, but he had never felt more grateful to Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson than when he heard that he nearly became HYDRA collateral damage.

“The only ones I can think of are the ones that worked with Rumlow and we already took them out,” Steve said. “Unless we missed some.”

“Which is entirely possible,” Sam confirmed.

“Great, so that’s another we get to add to the list,” Tony said, rubbing at his brow.

“We’re going to need to start ruling out the more outlandish ones,” Steve said. “I don’t want us to be spread too thin on this.”

“What’s your opinion on this, Vision?” Tony asked, but before Vision could answer, a knocking sound echoed through the room.

“Is that...the door?” Clint asked. At this point, after every surprise, none of the Avengers could be bothered with being shocked by an unwelcomed guest. After the battle, Tony had deactivated the forcefield to let in the agents and Fury. He had never bothered to replace it. Perhaps that was a mistake. A moment later, they heard the door open and very light footsteps stomping up the stairs as if the person was purposely trying to make noise.

Clint had his bow in his hand in the next instance, an arrow at the ready. Nobody moved as the archer aimed at the doorway. The steps came closer and then a voice called out. “Uh, the door was open!” Tony straightened up immediately.

“Clint don’t‒” but it was too late, the archer had released the arrow prematurely just as a small figure stepped into the room. A hand flashed out in the last moment and caught the projectile before it could bury itself into their sternum. Clint lowered his bow in shock as Peter Parker stood before them, staring wide-eyed at the arrow at nearly impaled him.

“Oh my god,” Clint said, placing his bow on the table before going over to Peter. “I’m so sorry, kid. That was all instinct, not on purpose, I swear.” Peter awkwardly laughed, trying to keep his tone light as he handed back the arrow.

“No blood, no foul, right?” Peter said with a crooked smile. He then turned to Tony and spread his hands at his sides. “Surprise?” Tony snapped out of his daze. He walked forward and hugged Peter, not caring about anyone else in the room. Peter was shocked at first, but then returned the hug warmly, gripping his mentor tight. After weeks of worrying and talking about his kid with Laura and Wanda, he was finally able to hug Peter Parker again and all the stress from the last twenty-four-hours melted away. “Sorry I didn’t call,” Peter said into Tony’s shoulder, but Stark just shook his head.

“You never have to call,” Tony whispered as he smoothed down Peter’s hair. When they separated, Peter looked almost guilty. “Not that I’m not really glad to see you, kid, but you shouldn’t be here.”

“I knew you were going to say something like that which is why I waited till the fighting was _over_ before coming here,” Peter explained. “The news said it was some sort of power surge because you weren’t there to regulate it, but I knew better. I couldn’t stay home and do nothing.” Tony sighed but nodded.

“Does your aunt know where you are?” Tony asked.

“Yes, I swear. She also knows that you’re not actually dead so she was pretty cool about me coming up here.”

“So no more curfew?” Tony asked with a small smile. Peter shrugged.

“May considers this ‘work study’ and also she knows that if I’m here, it’s a lot safer than galivanting around the city.” Tony frowned at that.

“I’m not too sure about that, Pete."

“Yeah, I saw all the wreckage. This is going to take a while to clean up. Good thing I don’t have summer plans,” Peter said, offering an encouraging smile. Tony just wanted to hug him again. Even if Pepper was currently off the grid and unavailable, he still had Peter, and that was enough. “So, you’re not mad?”

“No,” Tony assured him. “Am I worried that you’ve just waltzed into a situation that none of us can quite figure out? Yeah, very much so, but I’m proud of you. You do always end up doing what you think is right and I can’t exactly get on your case about that anymore.”

“It’s not like you could stop me the last time you tried to make me sit out,” Peter said, reminding him of the Homecoming incident. Tony rolled his eyes.

“You’re going to be holding that over me till I’m old and gray, aren’t you?”

“Looks to me like you’re not too far off there, Boss,” Peter said, jokingly pointing to Tony’s messy hair. Tony slapped Peter’s hand away as the teen laughed. He had missed this, their banter. Even with the team somewhat back together, nothing made him smile the way Peter Parker did.

From behind them, Clint cleared his throat. “Oh, sorry,” Tony said as he turned around. “Crew meet Peter Parker. Pete, this is the crew. You’ve met some of them already.” Peter gave them a short wave.

“Nice to see you all again,” he said, his eyes looking at Falcon who was staring at him until his eyes widened.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Sam said as he looked from Peter to Tony. “I’m very good with faces, Stark, but I excel at voices.” Tony just smiled at Sam.

“What is it, Sam?” Steve asked.

“This kid,” Sam said, pointing at Peter. “This kid is Spider-Man.” Peter looked as if he was going to deny it, but then just shrugged.

“I guess that secret’s out,” Peter said and then turned to look at Tony. “I’m surprised you didn’t tell them already.”

“Not my secret to tell, kid. Maximoff was different,” Tony said, mirroring Peter’s shrug.

“Speaking of,” Wanda said as she peered around Sam. Peter grinned at her and went in for a hug but stopped.

“Wait, are you better now or am I going to, like, make you worse?” Peter asked, concerned.

“I’m much better,” Wanda assured him as she pulled Peter in for a hug. He squeezed her back gently.

“Good, cause I was worried about you,” Peter said sheepishly. Wanda pulled back and then nodded toward Tony.

“Stark always keeps his word." Tony winked at her.

“That he does,” Peter agreed. He then turned to Vision and greeted him before facing Natasha, Sam, and Steve. Nat stepped forward and offered her hand to the teenager. Peter shook it twice.

“It’s nice to properly meet you, Peter,” she said.

“You too, Miss Romanoff,” Peter said, slightly stumbling on his words. Nat grinned at the teen and then noticed the webshooters peaking out from under his sleeves.

“Stark’s design?” she asked.

“Mine, actually,” Peter said, pushing up his sleeves slightly. Nat looked over his shoulder and at Tony.

“You’ve had another genius in your arsenal this whole time and you never called him in?” Peter raised his brows and looked at his mentor as well.

“Why is it that every Avenger you meet, they automatically fall in love with you?” Tony asked Peter who winked at Stark.

“What’s not to love?” Peter asked before he moved onto Sam. “No hard feelings?” Peter offered. Sam stared down at the spider for a moment before patting him on the shoulder.

“You’ve got a hell of an arm, kid, I’ll give you that, but just know that I won that fight,” Sam said. Peter pursed his lips at that.

“I’m pretty sure I left you and the Winter Soldier webbed to the ground, unable to move, so I’d say I won,” Peter said, splaying his hands.

“Who dropped your ass out a window a second later?” Sam asked, crossing his arms.

“A drone?” Peter tried and Clint snickered behind them next to Tony who was clearly enjoying watching Peter interact with the team.

“Are you always such a smartass?” Sam asked, amusement very apparent in his eyes.

“Yes,” answered Vision. Peter frowned at the android who just continued to play with Wanda’s hair. Peter then took a breath and finally looked at Steve. Tony knew how much the sixteen-year-old disliked the captain. It wasn’t because Steve had done anything particular to Peter other than giving him a rather nasty black eye, but Peter was well informed on what happened in Siberia. Since hearing the story and seeing the footage, Peter wasn’t Cap’s biggest fan.

Steve stared at the kid, unsure what to do until Peter offered his hand to the older man. Steve took it slowly. Peter smiled slightly as Cap’s jaw twitched as they shook hands. When Peter let go, Steve flexed his hand a few times. Tony looked between the two of them, ready to intervene if needed. “A year ago, this would have been very cool,” Peter said as he gave Cap the once over. Sam’s mouth opened slightly before closing it quickly.

“I suppose we were on different sides for a reason,” Steve said carefully. Peter stared back, his jaw tight before turning his back on Rogers and addressing Tony again.

“I got everything done at SI that you needed,” Peter informed him, completely ignoring Steve. “Have you talked to Nick Fury?”

“He’s been around,” Wanda confirmed.

“So you know HYDRA has completely taken over Stark Industries then?”

“Nick told us,” Tony said with a yawn as he collapsed back into the couch. Peter joined him, sitting on the arm. Tony handed him his coffee cup and Peter sipped slowly. “Did you hear about the storm moving in?” Peter nodded behind the mug.

“I can sense it, it’s driving me insane. It’s like an itch I can’t scratch. Very distracting when I’m trying to focus,” Peter explained. The confused looks caused Peter to elaborate. “I have really elevated senses. I can feel the air shifting sort of how animals know when storms are coming, but even more so.”

“So this spider thing isn’t just tech and circus moves?” Sam asked.

“Kid was bitten by a radioactive spider from a lab,” Tony explained. “Has all sorts of creepy powers. Increased reflexes, adhesion abilities, healing factor,” Tony glanced at Steve, “superhuman strength.” Steve rolled his eyes and Tony smiled to himself.

“So he’s stronger than Cap?” Clint asked. Peter nodded as he gulped his caffeine.

“I’d like to see that rematch,” Wanda muttered and Clint pointed at her in agreement.

“As much as that would be incredibly entertaining,” Natasha said, “What I would like to know is if Peter is going to be working on this with us?” Peter looked down at Tony who furrowed his brow.

“What are you looking at me for?” Tony asked. “Widow asked you a question.”

“I just didn’t know if you had an opinion on the matter,” Peter said, his confusion rather apparent.

“You’re not fourteen anymore, Peter. If you want to help, that’s your decision.”

“You’re not worried that I’ll screw something up?”

“I’m more worried about you getting shot so you’ll definitely need a suit upgrade, but other than that, it’s not my place to bench you. You’ve proven that you can handle yourself many times.” Peter couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his face. Tony knocked his knee with his fist.

“Then, I’m in,” Peter said. “Anything to help.”

“Then I think we found our secret weapon,” Vision said.

“So, who is going to fill me in on everything?” Peter asked. Sam leaned forward.

“Do you want the short story or the long one?”

* * *

After the team had filled Peter in, everyone needed a break. Peter included.

As the team dispersed for some breathing room, Peter headed to one of the less damaged balconies to get some air. Wanda found him after a few moments. She stepped up next to him, letting her forearms lean against the railing. “Has your head exploded yet?” Wanda asked. Peter ran his hands through his hair.

“I’ve only gotten bits and pieces since you guys came to see me,” he explained. “I guess I didn’t realize how bad it was.” Wanda nodded, looking out over the grounds. The damage looked even worse in the daylight.

“It’s not going to be pretty, Peter.”

“Never is,” he said. “But if I don’t do something, I’d just be sitting at home waiting for a phone call that will either be good news or bad and I can’t do that. Besides, when is fighting in any way pretty?”

“It’s not the fighting that is going to be bad,” Wanda continued. “Ultron knows us. He’s very good at getting into your head. Besides Sam, we all remember what he was like… That day in Sokovia was when we nearly lost everything. If Stark and Thor hadn’t of destroyed the city, the entire world would have perished. He got _so close_ and if we are right and there is another person running all of this, it only doubles Ultron’s chances at victory.” Peter was silent for a moment, letting it all sink in.

“Are you scared?” he asked her. Wanda dipped her head slightly.

“I am,” she admitted, “but I am more worried about us being torn apart again. Stark told me that he was going to make it so I can come home, that we can all come home. I am not sure how possible that is anymore.” Peter reached over and took her hand. Her eyes met his.

“I know I haven’t known most of you for very long or well, at all, but I know Tony. If anything, he’s honest and he will never promise you something unless he’s sure he can make it happen. Trust is very important to him so if he said he’s going to get you guys home, he meant it.” Wanda nodded, squeezing his hand.

“Thank you, Peter,” she said. Peter smiled at her.

“Mind if I have a moment with the kid, Red?” Tony asked as he knocked on the doorway behind them. Wanda nodded and squeezed Peter’s hand once more before leaving the two geniuses alone. Tony gestured toward the stairs that led down to the grounds below. Tony and Peter headed to the lawn and started walking through the debris. “You doing okay?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Peter said. “It’s funny, the reason May agreed to let me come up here is that she was worried about you.”

“Seriously?” Tony asked.

“She told me to come and check on you. Make sure you hadn’t gone off the deep end. Believe it or not, Tony, May considers you to be family.” Tony was surprised to hear that but was flattered all the same. May Parker hadn’t always been his best friend, but they had grown closer over the last year. Mostly for Peter’s benefit, but it was nice to hear that she had a spot in her heart for him as well.

“Once we get the facility back up and running, we’ll have to call her,” Tony said as he looked at the electrical burns along the side of the annex. “Think you can help me with that?”

“Why do you think I came here?” Peter grinned. Tony let out a deep breath as he slung his arm around Peter’s shoulders.

“I’m glad you’re here kid. I’m not ashamed to admit that I needed you,” Tony said, his shoe nudging a chunk of concrete.

“It’s nice to be needed,” Peter said. “I missed you too, old man.” Tony smiled and ruffled Peter’s hair before continuing through the carnage.  

“What do you think of your new teammates?” Tony asked after a few more yards.

“Natasha is nice,” Peter said. “She also kind of scares me, but I guess that’s a normal reaction to meeting a former assassin.”

“Pretty much,” agreed Tony.

“Uh, Sam is...interesting. He’s sort of reminds me of Rhodey, you know? They have that same attitude at times.”

“I think it’s an Air Force thing.”

“Well, he’s cool.”

“And Steve?” Tony asked, looking at Peter out of the corner of his eye.

“Was I rude to him?” Peter asked. “I didn’t want to be, but I also didn’t want to seem fake and try to act all nice to him.” Tony chuckled.

“I think you were perfectly civil towards him,” said Tony. “Though, I don’t think you needed to grip his hand so tight.”

“You can’t tell me that you didn’t enjoy that,” Peter said, bumping Tony’s shoulder.

“Maybe a little,” Tony said with a shrug. “I know that you don’t want him here, bud.” Peter went to argue when Tony put up his hand. “It’s okay not to want to see him, trust me, but this is a necessary evil. Steve is one of our best fighters and together, while I hate to admit it, he and I make a pretty damn good team. It's rare when the two of us can’t solve a problem. I knew that we were going to need his help with this and I am grateful that he came to our aid. So, you can be angry with him, but you gotta trust that he’s gonna work his ass off to help us win this one, okay?” Peter mulled over Tony’s words for a moment before sighing in defeat.

“Okay, but if he hits me in the face again, it’s fair game,” Peter said. “Deal?” Tony took the hand that Peter offered.

“You got a deal, Spider-Man.” As they rounded the main building and spotted the hangar, Peter pulled Tony to a stop.

“When can we tell people you aren’t dead? It’s getting really morbid on the news and people are starting to make public memorials. It’s very unsettling,” Peter explained.

“Well, the way we were going to do it was to released classified information and expose this sect of HYDRA like Natasha did in 2014, but we don’t have access to any of it right now.”

“What if you did?” Peter said, his gears turning.

“What’s going on inside that big brain of yours, Parker?” Peter grinned mischievously.

“Do you remember when you told me that Phil Coulson was actually alive?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another filler chapter coming at you. 
> 
> I needed some IronDad desperately. Peter has joined the fray! Spider-Man isn't too sure on Cap, but he may get over it. 
> 
> Up next: Peter heads out to the field with two Avengers...
> 
> I know this story isn't getting as much traction as my previous series, but I am still going to finish it and then try something new. Thank you for sticking with wanda and tony all these months!


	5. The Captain and The Spiders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get a name.
> 
> Cap, Natasha, and Peter get a man.

Tony and Peter’s first task to repair the Compound was getting a secure communication channel up.

With a few tweaks from the transponder they were using to contact Fury, the two geniuses were able to access a secure line that tied directly into Coulson’s team. Peter had suggested the idea of reaching out to Coulson’s people from an old report he had read a few weeks before. 

When the team had found out that Phil Coulson was actually alive and not six feet under, they were both annoyed and happy at the same time. Since they were read in on the current Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s situation, they had called him only a few times. His abundant resources and his intelligent team made him a valuable ally and friend and at this moment, they would need just that. 

The team had gathered in the quinjet. Sam and Clint had gone out a few hours before to bring the jet in from the safe house. As the Compound was still offline, they relied on the power of the aircraft to transmit their signals. Peter leaned against the back wall watching the team. He could feel the tension as if it was crawling up his skin. He had seen it in Leipzig briefly but had been too occupied to really take it all in. He had also just been trying to impress Tony.

However, now he was able to actually pay attention to the minute things. He clocked facial expressions, body language, and of course, the way each hero interacted with another. Steve and Tony were civil with one another, but the distrust was still very present. Then while everyone else had been on Cap’s side in Germany, besides Vision, it was still odd for them to be in one place again and working toward a common goal. 

Peter snapped out of his daze as somebody on the other end of the call picked up. 

“This is a secure line, how did you access it?” A woman’s voice came over the line. Natasha instantly straightened up at the familiarity of it. Tony and Cap stepped back to give her the floor. 

“Ah, you know me, May. Give me a keyboard and a little nudge and I can do just about anything,” Natasha said easily. There was a pause on the line before May responded. 

“You always were one of our best,” May answered in a much friendlier tone. “How are you, Nat?”

“Been better,” she sighed. “You’ve got a full room here. Thought I’d let you know before you started sharing your darkest secrets.” May made a noise that Peter thought was a laugh. 

“You know all my darkest secrets, Romanoff. No need for repeats. So, what’s going on? I am assuming this has to do with Stark’s death,” May said. 

“Not dead, actually,” Tony interjected. Another pause.

“Well, that’s good news,” she said. “I’ll make sure to tell Phil.” 

“Yeah, you do that. Not like he immediately told me or anything,” Tony said and Natasha rolled her eyes. 

“Everyone,” Natasha began, “this is Melinda May, Coulson’s right-hand woman.” 

“Agent May,” Steve said. “Steve Rogers, here. We were hoping that you had some inside information on HYDRA’s current operations.” 

“Well, Captain, that is a very large area to cover at the moment,” explained May. “I’m sure you very well know that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been after HYDRA for decades now and no matter what we do, we can’t seem to stop them or slow them down.”

“But you do have some insight?” Natasha asked. 

“I can send you basic files, but unless I know what you’re looking for specifically, it may be more difficult.” 

“HYDRA has revived Ultron,” Tony explained. “And we have to find some way of taking them down from the inside before going after the big guy.” 

“That definitely wasn’t what I was expecting to hear,” May said with a deep sigh. “Okay, well we are in pretty deep water over here with AIDA and looking for one of our agents, and some guy with a flaming car but if we hear anything I will make sure to let you know.” 

“Thanks, Melinda,” Natasha said. 

“HYDRA science is becoming an even bigger issue these days,” May continued. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they have made Ultron more advanced in other ways. Every day they get stronger. We have Fitzsimmons, our science team working on it nonstop, but even they can’t fully keep up and they’re our best.” 

As Natasha and May conversed for a few more moments, Wanda had started to pace. Peter watched the young woman who looked to be overthinking something. It wasn’t until May mentioned that they had been trying to track down any family members tied to HYDRA operatives that she froze. The team noticed immediately and Natasha gestured to the phone. 

“Agent May,” Wanda began, “how much information does S.H.I.E.L.D. have on Strucker?” 

“Wolfgang von Strucker?” May asked. 

“Yes.” 

“Just that he was doing inhumane experiments and was in the hierarchy of HYDRA before the Avengers had managed to capture him in Sokovia. Then, of course, Ultron murdered him later. Also, there was the fact that he used to be in S.H.I.E.L.D. as an undercover operative when we were under siege by HYDRA,” May explained. 

“Where are you going with this, Wanda?” asked Clint. 

“HYDRA is so specific on who enters its ranks,” Wanda explained as she started to pace again. “I don’t know if it matters, but…” Wanda approached the phone again. “Were you ever able to locate Strucker’s sister?” 

“We are aware that he had one, but I don’t know much more. Hold on,” May said as they hear the clicks of a keyboard on the other line. “I can’t find much information on her. Not even her name. However, I’ll have Fitz do his magic and if he finds anything, he’ll call you.”

“Thanks, May, I owe you,” Natasha said. 

“You always do, Romanoff,” May said. Natasha rolled her eyes before ending the call. “Where did that come from?” she asked Wanda.

“Pietro and I, while we were kept inside the base, we were watched the entire time,” Wanda explained. “As we got a hold on our abilities we used them to start spying on the other members. Trying to work out their motivations. My brother and I had heard Strucker mentioned his sister, but we never saw her. Even when there was a rumor that she was in the base, we could never find her. Pietro searched everywhere and even he could not find a trace. I don’t know much about her, but if she’s anything like her brother…”

“Then she may be just who we are looking for,” Tony finished. “Good work, Red.” 

“Hopefully this Fitz can find something,” Cap said. “Until then,” he turned to Tony, “do you think you can get us up and running again?”

“With his help?” Tony jabbed his thumb at Peter. “Absolutely.” 

“Good, cause we’ll need full power on this one.” 

“Don’t sweat it, Rogers,” Tony said as he approached Peter. “We’re the perfect team.” 

* * *

Tony and Peter worked for hours.

With a few genius ideas between them, they hardwired the quinjet into the Compound to create a new mainframe. It wasn’t as vast or as complex as the original coding, but it was Ultron free which is all they needed at the moment. 

At one point, Peter was suspended from the ceiling in the reactor room as he reattached the signals from the energy source to the rest of the grounds. “Wanda really did a number on these, didn’t she?” Peter called down to Tony as he worked. 

“I’m just glad she didn’t end up blowing the whole thing up,” Tony said as he worked below. Peter grasped one of the rods and tugged a little too hard. A piece broke off into his hand. He awkwardly hid it. “What was that?” 

“Nothing!” Peter said as he finished the connections. “Okay, try it now.” Tony entered the command on his datapad and a second later, the entire room lit up in brilliant light as a low hum resonated around them. 

_ “Power restored.”  _ Tony straightened up at the familiar voice echoing through the room. 

“Nice to have you home, Fri,” Tony said with a grin. 

_ “Hello, Boss,”  _ F.R.I.D.A.Y. said. 

“Alright, kid, come on down. We’re good here.” Peter released his hold on the ceiling and dropped to the ground without a sound. 

“That didn’t take as long as I thought,” Peter said, brushing the dust from his hands. 

“I told you we made a great team,” Tony said, pushing Peter’s shoulder. 

“Is that everything now?”

“Not quite,” Tony said. “Come with me.” The billionaire led the teen from the reactor room and back into the main building. They headed for Stark’s lab. After the attack, Tony had spent some time cleaning everything up and even managed to find all the parts to repair his bots. It would take some time, but he would restore them. 

“What are we doing in here?” Peter asked. 

“God, you’re impatient, you know that?” Tony said as he went over to a drawer in the back of the lab. With a touch of his hand, the drawer clicked open. He gestured Peter over. “Listen closely, Peter,” Tony began. He held up a USB drive to the teenager. “This is a kill switch.”

“For what?” Peter asked as he took it in his hand.

“Everything.” Peter looked at Tony in surprise. 

“When you say everything…”

“I mean it. This will shut down the Compound, the suits, coms, and quinjets. It will erase any and all data we have across any server. Basically, that is the Avengers in a single drive.” 

“Why are you showing me this?” Peter asked. 

“Because if Ultron wins, you need to use this,” Tony told him. 

“Because you’ll suddenly forget how to use a computer?” Peter asked, pressing the key back into Tony’s palm. Stark gave the kid a sad smile. 

“If Ultron wins...I may not be here to do it. That’s what I’m saying, Peter. Only a few people know that this key exists. Cap, Banner, and Romanoff being the others. And now you know. I’m not saying it’s inevitable, but I’d rather you know about this now rather than you not knowing what to do if that time ever comes.” Peter ran his hand through his hair, looking around the room. “I’m not telling you this to make you upset.” 

“I know,” Peter said. “I just don’t like thinking of you not being here.” Tony reached out and rested his hand on Peter’s shoulder. 

“I am going to do everything in my power to stay for as long as possible, Pete. I think you, Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy would be okay, but let’s face it, I’m kind of the best in our little family.” Peter snorted and pushed Tony away, but that had gotten the sixteen-year-old to smile. 

“I’m holding you to that,” Peter said. 

“Good,” Tony said. “I still need you to promise me that you’ll use this if that awful time comes.” Tony held up the key again. 

“I promise." They stayed in their moment for a second before F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke to them. 

_ “Boss, Captain Rogers is requesting you and Peter to go to the stateroom. Agent Fitz from S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the line.” _

“Let’s go see what the nerds have figured out.” 

* * *

Turns out, Fitz had a lot more information that May had initially found.

“Miss Maximoff was correct,” Fitz began. “Strucker’s sister used to be within the higher ranks of HYDRA but was kept off a lot of the official records so she could be a stealth agent. However, Diana von Strucker is currently MIA.” 

“For how long?” Cap asked. 

“Not sure. The last check-in was around the time of the Accords bombing, but that wasn’t confirmed by any reliant source,” Fitz informed them.

“Is there anything on Diana that could help us further?” Clint asked. 

“She’s incredibly bright. Worked her way from the bottom within HYDRA. It was her idea to use the scepter in the first place for human experiments. However, because she was a stealth agent, she enlisted the project to her superiors who then recruited her brother and Dr. List.”

“Last known location?” Natasha asked.

“Somewhere in Europe, but again, she’s clever. That could have been a false trail,” Fitz said. 

“Okay, well that’s something. Thank you, Agent Fitz,” Cap said. 

“One more thing,” Fitz interjected. “When I was looking for Diana, I came across a transmission. There is a HYDRA staging area not too far from you. If you’re looking for any confidential information on them or even to interrogate their operatives, you’ll find it there. I’ve sent Natasha the coordinates.” Nat tapped away at the datapad. 

“Wards Island?” Nat asked. “There's nothing over there.” 

“That’s not true,” Peter said. “There’s a water treatment plant there. It used to run, but after the attack on New York, radiation from the wormhole affected the filters so it got shut down. It’s safe to go into now, but they just never reopened. Criminals use it all the time. I’ve busted quite a few there.”

“I’d say that would be your best bet,” said Fitz.

“Okay, thank you again, Agent Fitz,” Cap said. 

“Yeah, no problem.” Fitz ended the call.

“Parker,” Cap said, turning to the spider, “how well do you know the area?”

“Pretty well. As I said, I’ve taken down a fair amount of drug dealers who use it as a factory a lot of the time. It’s a bit of a labyrinth, but once you’ve been a couple of times, navigating it becomes pretty easy,” Peter explained. Cap crossed his arms. 

“Would you be willing to come with a few of us to check it out?” Steve asked and Peter had to stop himself from looking at Tony for Stark’s approval. He had to start making his own decisions and Tony had already said that he was ready to do so. However, going on a mission with Cap was not so desirable at the moment. Yet, he had a job to do. Peter nodded. 

“I can get you through it,” Peter said. “It’s better to enter from the South or from above. However, you have to be careful around the tanks. They never exactly emptied them and the plant goes through surges of power even though the  city shut it down.” 

“Then it’s a good thing you’ll be coming with us,” Steve said. 

“When you say ‘we’,” Wanda said. “Who are we talking about?” 

“We can’t go,” Tony told Wanda. “Stealth takedowns don’t really work if a dead man and a murderer show up.” 

“Right…” Wanda said. 

“No more than four,” said Tony. “I don’t want to leave the Compound undefended.” 

“I’ll take Peter and Natasha,” Steve said, looking at Nat who nodded. “Any more and we risk being detected. We’ll get in, take the base and hopefully grab us some much-needed answers. I want to get going as soon as possible in case they move. You got ten minutes.” Peter immediately left the room and headed for his own. 

His adrenaline was already spiking just as it usually did before he went out on patrol. However, this time he wasn’t hoping for some action, he knew it was coming. Peter had never fought HYDRA and if he was being honest with himself, never really wanted to. The organization had been a thorn in the Avengers’ side for way too long. However, if he could help take down even a small piece, it would be worth it. 

As soon as his bedroom door closed behind him, he took a moment to collect himself before heading for his bag that held his suit. The last time he had been in his room Upstate, it was the weekend before all of this had started. He had gone from telling Tony all about his science project to suiting up for a mission with Captain America and Black Widow. 

Peter put all of that out of his mind as he put on his suit. With a final tap of the spider on his chest, the suit locked into place and his A.I. greeted him.  _ “Hello, Peter,”  _ Karen said. 

“Today should be an interesting one, Karen,” Peter greeted. A knock came at his door and he nearly rolled his eyes. “Tony, I don’t need a pep talk,” he groaned as he opened it, but it wasn’t Tony. It was Natasha. “Oh, hey, I thought you were Tony.” 

“Afraid not,” she said. “Mind if I come in?” Peter stepped aside as a fully suited Black Widow entered his room. He suddenly wished he would have cleaned up a bit more. 

“So, what’s up?” Peter asked, taking off his mask. 

“I know you’re mad at Steve, kid,” Natasha began and Peter groaned. 

“I’m going to stop you right there,” Peter said, even shocking himself for cutting off the famed Natasha Romanoff. “Tony already gave me this speech. Cap is going to help us beat Ultron. I’ll work alongside him, listen to him, etc. You don’t need to tell me again.” Natasha pursed her lips before nodding. 

“Well, then I guess there’s nothing to discuss, Spider-Man,” Nat said. “Steve is waiting, let’s go.” Nat then left the room with Peter on her heels. A feeling of pride was surging through him after that quick conversation. If he was being honest with himself, he was getting tired of receiving speeches on how to be a hero and how to work within a team. While Spider-Man was a bit of a freelancer, Peter knew that working with the team was essential at times and something he was more than willing to do. 

Peter and Natasha met Steve out front by one of the many SUVs. Tony was there as well. As Natasha went to help Steve load the car, Peter approached Stark. “Time to show these old timers up,” Tony said with a grin. 

“That’s not what I was thinking exactly, but I’ll take it,” Peter said. 

“I know you work best alone, but listen to Cap and you guys will be home for dinner,” Tony said. 

“I think I can manage that." Tony nodded and then gripped Peter’s hand and pulled him in for a quick hug. He patted him on the back twice and then separated. 

“I’ll see you later,” Tony said.

“Don’t worry, Boss. We’re heading into my turf, we'll get them,” Peter threw a wink over his shoulder before climbing into the passenger seat of the car. Cap started the engine and Tony watched as the SUV drove out of sight. He didn’t say it, but if he would kill Steve if Peter didn’t come back. 

* * *

“You didn’t ask about the shield,” Natasha said from the backseat as she tapped away at all the equipment before her. Peter glanced over at Steve, gauging his reaction.

“Drop it, Natasha,” he said. Nat raised her hands in surrender. 

“What’s the best way to get to the island?” Steve asked, Peter, trying to change the subject.

“Give me a second,” Peter said as he pulled on his mask and Karen highlighted the route for him. “We need to cross the Queensboro out of Manhattan. It’ll be best to enter from Astoria than Harlem,” Peter explained. 

“What’s the security like?” Steve asked as he turned South past The Brox. 

“It’s an abandoned water treatment plant, there is no security,” Peter said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. 

“Satellite images are telling me there is a fence up. Electric?” Natasha asked.

“Only if the power is surging. If it’s live, I can short it out easily enough or just get us over it.” Peter said checking over his webshooters. 

“What else can you do?” Steve asked. Peter looked over at him with a mischievous smile plastered on his face.

“I guess you’ll just have to find out.” 

“Easy, gentlemen,” Natasha said. “The last thing we need is for the two of you to start trying to one-up each other.” 

“Trust me, I’m not the most competitive person out there,” Peter assured her. 

“Considering who your mentor is, I have a hard time believing that.” 

“Fair enough.”

* * *

Steve, Natasha, and Peter arrived in Astoria nearly an hour later.

“We’ll have to cross the bridge on our own,” Peter said. “From my experience, they usually have spotters to check for police. We would definitely stand out.” 

“Wouldn’t three people walking across a bridge cause even more attention?” Natasha asked. 

“Which is why we’re not going to be walking,” Peter said as Steve pulled into the shade of an abandoned building. Peter gestured to the bridge. “We’ll be going under it.” 

“Hate to break it to you, Peter, but not all of us can swing on webs,” Steve said as the three of them disembarked the SUV and headed for the overgrowth beneath the bridge. 

“Then it’s a good thing I’m strong,” Peter said as the eyes on his mask narrowed as he zoomed in on the latticework beneath the structure. “It’ll take me a couple of minutes to get each of you across. Trust me, I’ve done this before.” 

“With Tony?” Natasha asked.

“No, with my best friend Ned. And if a random kid from Queens can handle it, a super spy and Captain America definitely can,” Peter said, stretching out his arms. “Unless you’d rather swim?” 

“Swinging sounds great,” Natasha said as she secured her weapons. “Just don’t drop me.” 

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Peter said as he lined up his shot and fired a web, securing himself to one of the beams. “Give me your hand.” Nat offered it to him and Peter latched a web to her forearm before grabbing it. She gripped his arm as well. “Don’t tense up your arm,” Peter said before he took a running start and took them both from the shore and swung beneath the bridge. 

Peter grinned as the wind whistled past him. He always loved this part of being Spider-Man. As soon as he cleared the first beam, he let go of the first web and shot another one. They were in freefall for less than a second before they were solid and swinging again. Peter did this seven more times before they cleared the bridge and touched down on the other side. Peter released Natasha from the webs and she stagged slightly. 

“First time can feel like a rollercoaster on speed,” Peter explained. Nat nodded, bracing her hands on her knees. 

“I’m good, just a bit winded. Go get Steve,” she said, shaking her shoulder out. Peter saluted to her and launched himself back across the bridge. He was must faster without his passenger. Steve was waiting for him on the bank. 

“I hope you’re not as heavy as you look,” Peter said.

“Very funny, Parker." Peter grabbed Steve and together they swung back across to where Natasha was waiting. When Peter let go of Cap, the older man seemed completely fine. Natasha frowned. 

“I don’t know why I thought it would bother you, you’ve jumped out of planes without a parachute,” she said. Steve just grinned at her as the three of them headed into the island. Wards Island or most commonly knowns as Randalls Wards Island was a ghost town. The many buildings on the small island that made up the plant were even eerier. Peter took them to the Southern point of the plant where the fence wrapped around the entire site. 

Natasha tossed a handful of rocks against the fence and sparks flew from where the pebbles hit. “That’s too much voltage to just be a surge.” 

“She’s right,” Peter said, his ear turned towards the plant. “They have full power. Generators, lights, communication. A staging area is right.” 

“You can hear that?” Steve asked and Peter nodded slightly. Steve and Natasha exchanged a glance.

“I can short a small section of the fence though,” Peter said as he switched to his taser webs. “Step back.” The three heroes stepped away from the fence as Peter adjusted his own voltage and then fired two webs. The electrified webs hit the fence and a shock ran through Peter’s body, but he held onto it. 

_ “Short circuit complete,”  _ Karen said after a few seconds and Peter released the webs, taking deep breaths.

“Kid, are you okay?” Nat asked. 

“Should have asked to use the metal suit,” Peter panted out. He straightened his back and shook out his shoulders. “Doesn’t feel too great.” Peter noticed their expressions. “I’m fine, let’s go.” Peter didn’t wait for them as he took a running start and cleared the fence in a single jump. 

Natasha slowly shook her head at the teenager before she started to climb the tall fence. When she cleared the other side, she jumped and Peter caught her. “Thanks,” she said as Cap landed next to her easily.

“Karen is giving me a total count of twenty in the main section with a many dotted around,” Peter explained. 

“Who?” Steve asked. 

“Oh, sorry, Karen is my A.I., she runs my suit,” Peter explained. 

“Okay, and does Karen see the best entrance point?” asked Natasha. 

“No, but Peter does,” he said as he led them across the grounds and over to the service entrance. A guard was watching the back door. Peter fired a web to silence the man as Natasha snuck up behind him and took him down easily. Steve broke the lock on the door and they entered the plant. Even with the power on, it was dark in the main passageways. Peter’s eyes adjusted immediately. “This way,” he whispered.

As Natasha and Cap walked below, Peter kept to the walls and ceiling, acting as their eyes. He spoke to them through their coms, alerting them of HYDRA operatives and their positions. By the time they reached the main room, the three of them had taken out at least fourteen guards between them. 

Rushing water reached their ears as they waited outside the heavy door. “Scans still at twenty,” Peter said as he landed between them. 

“I’d imagine that there are usually a lot more here,” said Natasha. 

“So they’re taking a lunch break?” Peter asked. 

“Or they’re out causing more problems,” Steve pointed out. 

“Do you think Diana would be here?” 

“No,” Natasha shook her head. “Staging areas rarely have higher ranked operatives. She’s probably up in some penthouse somewhere having tea with Ultron.” 

“There’s an image,” Peter muttered. “So, are we going to make this loud or stealth?” Steve stepped forward and kicked open the door. “Loud it is.” 

Gunshots sounded as soon as Steve breached the room. Natasha and Steve rolled to either side as Peter headed above. Natasha rushed a man on a platform above one of the water turbines. He shot at her, but Nat dodged his weapon, kicking it from his hand. She slammed his head into the steel bar and threw him to the ground below. 

Above, Peter snatched guns from hostiles' hands. He landed between two who then trained their weapons on him but ducked just before they fired. Both men dropped and Peter grimaced but kept focused. As he took on one of the bigger men, Cap was fighting up on another platform. 

Without his shield, he was still damn good in a fight, but deflecting bullets wasn’t possible anymore. As Steve downed a hostile one had snuck up from below and fired. The bullet hit Steve’s shoulder, causing him to lose his balance. The rusted railing broke under his strength and Cap went over the side and into the water turbine. Natasha shot down Cap’s assailant and rushed towards him. 

“No!” Peter yelled at her. “I got him, you get those files!” he pointed to the computers behind her. Nat hesitated for a second before turning on her heel and heading for their tech, taking down the rest of the hostiles with her new found rage. 

Peter swung over to the turbine and saw Cap holding onto the side with his good arm. His right shoulder was red with blood, the water turning crimson below him. Peter climbed down to the edge and reached for Steve’s hand. “I got you!” he yelled over the water. Steve reached and then lost his grip, but Peter was faster, he shot a web and latched onto Cap’s chest. With a single pull, he pulled Steve to him. Peter grabbed Steve’s arm and pulled him from the turbine, water spraying both of them.

Peter took hold of Cap and jumped from the platform, taking them to the ground. Steve groaned as his shoulder was jostled. “Stay still,” Peter said as he webbed up Steve’s shoulder, stopping the bleeding almost immediately. “You’ll have to get the bullet out, but that will get you back in one piece.” Peter then looked at the water. “Maybe a tetanus shot wouldn't be so bad. Even for you.” 

Peter helped him to his feet and Steve held his arm to his stomach so he wouldn’t move it too much. “Thank you,” Cap said. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Peter said awkwardly as he went over to Natasha who was staring down a rather burly man. “Who’s this?” 

“Our prisoner,” Natasha said. “The data is mostly corrupted. Must have had an emergency program enabled. So we’re taking the information with us.” 

“Did you check for‒” Steve was cut off by Natasha holding up a small white pill. “Nevermind.” Peter took it from her hand. 

“What is it?” he asked. 

“Cyanide capsule. They mask them as teeth,” Natasha explained. 

“Oh, gross!” Peter said handing it to Steve who crushed it beneath his boot. Natasha ignored him as she bent down to the man’s eye level. He was half awake and clearly not aware that three superheroes were before him. 

“Let’s get him to the car.”

* * *

After Peter had taken Natasha across to get the SUV to drive back to pick up Steve and their new hostage, they drove back to the Compound.

Peter secured the man with webbing and Steve kept him unconscious for the drive. Nat took the wheel as Rogers rested his arm in the backseat. Peter had felt amazing after saving Cap’s life, but also a bit guilty. He should have sensed that other gunman. He let his thoughts wander as the energy he felt earlier was slowly drained.

By the time they drove through the gates, the sun was setting over the trees. Sam, Clint, and Tony met them outside. Natasha got out of the car first and hauled their prisoner from the trunk. Clint rushed forward to help. Tony raised his brows at her. 

“Long story. Help Steve, he needs medical,” she said, taking the prisoner to the annex just as Peter helped Steve from the car. 

“What happened?” Sam asked. 

“There was so much noise with the water and all the fighting…” Peter said. “I should have seen the other agent.” Steve shook his head as he leaned against Sam. 

“Not your fault, kid,” Cap told him then offered his hand to Peter who took it without thought. “Thank you for saving my life.” Peter nodded and dropped his hand. 

“You’re welcome.” Steve gave him a tight smile before heading off to medical with Sam. He gripped Tony’s shoulder as he passed him. 

“I’ll be up in a bit to get that bullet out,” Tony said. “Wilson, can you get it set up for me?” Sam nodded to him as they entered the building. He then turned to Peter. 

“I should have sensed him, Tony,” Peter said. 

“You’re not perfect, Pete. Things happen. It’s a shoulder wound. He’s had a lot worse. Cap is going to be fine,” Tony assured him. “Go get a shower and then we’ll work from there.” 

“Okay,” Peter said as he too went inside. As soon as he was alone, Tony activated his phone. 

“Fri, send me all of the footage from Karen from the last five hours,” he said.

_ “I’ve placed it on your personal server.” _

“Thanks, girl.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR BEING MIA. 
> 
> I have had a lot going on, but my birthday is this weekend and I am determined to finish this before then! 
> 
> Also, Captain Marvel is out on digital tonight!
> 
> So, Agents of Shield is complicated with time lines. Their plot is sort of around when ghost rider is in the story so i tried. if it doesn't make sense. Oh well. 
> 
> Up next: An interrogation begins and Vision gets an idea


	6. The Time Between

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda interrogates
> 
> they make a discovery
> 
> a plan is set into motion

Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton were master interrogators.

However, their newest project was being quite difficult. The two former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had been working on the HYDRA operative for more than thirty-six hours. Their enemy trained their soldiers incredibly well when it came to resisting a multitude of interrogation techniques. Even those of the Black Widow. It was no wonder the two spies were having so much difficulty getting through to him.

The only thing they had managed to get from the man was that Diana wasn’t on site at the staging area which they had already figured. As the two best friends watched their prisoner eat, Natasha’s frustration started to simmer beneath her skin. A small part of her wanted to slip back into her old ways and force the information out in more creative ways, but she quickly pushed those thoughts back down. She had managed to get away from that part of her life and she had no desire to go back to it.

After a few more agonizing minutes of a fork scratching against a plate, Natasha stood and walked from the room. Clint followed, securing the door behind her. As soon as she exited the Annex, she turned her face to the gray sky and let the wind whip through her hair. The storm was getting closer and it started to feel suffocating.

For so long she and the others had been on the run. Natasha had finally found a home before it was ripped away from her again. It was a never-ending cycle of being lost within the world and one that she hoped would stop very soon. She missed being an Avenger and she missed all that came with the title.

When she had watched Steve get shot back at the plant, her heart flew into her throat. All of her training went out the window and all she could think about was getting to her friend and taking down those who would hurt him. If Peter hadn’t of snapped her back to reality, she didn’t know what she would have done.

“Tasha,” Clint said as he came up behind her.

“Call the others to the stateroom,” she said, keeping her eyes on the sky. “We need a new plan.”

The team met on the third floor of the main building. Everyone looked a bit worse for wear and nobody was sleeping much. Steve’s shoulder was doing better, but it would take longer to heal completely. Tony had managed to get the bullet out and sew him up, but the pain wasn’t much better. Peter, on the other hand, was still feeling guilty for Steve getting shot and Tony was just trying to keep everyone focused.

“We need to rethink our technique,” Natasha said as soon as everyone had settled.

“You’re not torturing him,” said Tony as he leaned against the far wall, watching the room.

“I didn’t suggest that.”

“Just making sure.”

“So, he’s said nothing?” Steve asked.

“Not unless you count ‘Hail Hydra’ over and over,” Clint said, exasperated. He was just as tired as Natasha and even Barton wanted to break out some of the old tricks he had learned over the years.

“Maybe there is something we can offer him in return,” Vision proposed.

“HYDRA is the definition of loyalty. It is incredibly rare when one of their operatives breaks rank and joins the other side willingly,” Steve explained.

“And it never happens with your average foot soldier,” Sam added.

“You need to let me in there,” Wanda said, stepping forward. “Ten minutes, maybe less.” Peter thought they should have had Wanda read his mind yesterday, but they had wanted to see if he would be willing. However, he was HYDRA and they never were.

“You haven’t used those abilities in a while,” Steve began. “We don’t know how they’ve changed since you were sick.”

“She read my mind when she was having a power surge and I’m just fine,” Tony said. “Wanda’s mind reading has always been one of her strongest skills. And I hate to say it, but if something does go wrong and his brain turns to jelly…” Tony shrugged. “If we don’t find out what he knows, a lot of people could die.”

Tony had stopped wanting to play nice since he realized that Ultron had his suits. The best way to know your enemy was to get inside their head and if the Avengers weren’t willing to take risks to secure the information that they needed then they were always going to lose.

“It’s a lot of darkness to sift through,” Steve warned.

“Nothing I haven’t seen before,” Wanda said, clearly unbothered. “If you want something done right, you use the most qualified person. You need what’s in his head and I can get it. At this point, I’m not exactly asking for permission.” Steve and Nat exchanged a glance and then Cap looked to Tony as he usually did in these situations. Tony nodded at him.

“Ten minutes,” Steve said. “Get as much as you can and then sedate him. Vision, go with her.” Wanda left the room with Vision on her tail.

“You have to stop treating her like a kid, Steve,” Tony told him. “Wanda is more powerful now than you could imagine.” It had taken Tony a while to see that. With Wanda _and_ Peter. However, Steve had always been so protective over Maximoff, nearly as much as Clint. Then again, Clint had seen how Wanda is able to handle herself these days whereas Steve had not.

“I saw her on the battlefield. I know what she can do.”

“No, you don’t,” Clint and Tony said at the same time.

“Trust us, Steve,” Barton continued. “We saw her take down a plane, control a missile, hell, she could have brought a mountain down with the amount of power she was radiating that night. She’s different and I don’t know why or how, but I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“And you think it’s safe for her to go into that man’s mind?” Sam asked.

“We’re running out of options, Sam,” Tony concluded.

“Then let’s hope she manages to get something.”

* * *

When Wanda walked into the room, the man instantly stiffened.

“Do you know who I am?” she asked softly. The man before her nodded once.

“Maximoff,” he spat. “My boss has been looking for you.”

“Diana von Strucker?” Wanda asked, but the man did not speak further. “What is your name, soldier?” Again, nothing. Wanda tilted her head, her eyes glowing in the low light as she touched just the first layer of his subconscious. “Oleksander,” she said. “From Ukraine.” Behind her, Vision watched in silence.  

“Get out of my head, witch!” he snarled. Wanda persisted. She dove deeper. Her magic wrapped and twisted around his thoughts. She felt as if she were walking through a minefield, careful not to step on anything too dangerous, but willing to get where she needed.  When he tried to move, she kept him still with a wave of her hand. Oleksander struggled under her magic, but could not break free. Wanda saw flashes behind her eyes of the man’s life and as it all rushed by her.

It took her a moment to get her bearings, but eventually, she regained control of the subconscious and it was like leafing through a file cabinet filled with sounds, shapes, and smells. “Age forty-one, no family, incredibly smart, weapon’s specialist and code breaker,” Wanda muttered, her red eyes flickering back and forth. The information was coming at lightspeed, but she was able to view it as one big picture.

“Stop,” he growled. Wanda ignored him and approached the man, stopping in front of him. She lifted her palm and pressed her fingers against his temple. Her magic flowed through her fingertips and connected her further, tethering her to his mind. Oleksander shuddered beneath her touch as the recent memories came to light.

“Where is Ultron?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Oleksander said through gritted teeth. Wanda pushed harder. She saw the face of a woman with dark hair and a tight smile. A few memories more and she knew her to be Diana. Wanda watched as Oleksander interacted with the woman in person, but never at anything place in particular.

“Where is Diana now?”

“Nobody knows,” Oleksander whispered. Wanda knew he was telling the truth, but her anger still rose. She continued to look through his head, but only managed to get a few IP addresses and redacted file names. Wanda spoke them aloud and Vision logged them on his datapad. Lastly, she looked for one more person in his thoughts. Thaddeus Ross.

“What do you know of Secretary Ross?” Wanda pressed.

“HYDRA’s errand boy,” Oleksander said as sweat bloomed across his brow.

“How much is he involved?”

“He’s not. He only does what he is told.” Oleksander’s memory proved that theory to be true. Thaddeus Ross was no more than a puppet and a power-hungry man. Wanda pushed away from the operative, stepping out of his mind. He immediately slumped over in his chair.

“You’re all going to die at the hands of HYDRA,” he said and Wanda hit him with a wave, knocking him out.

“Did you get everything down?” she asked Vision, turning her back on the HYDRA agent.

“Yes, though I am not sure how much information we will be able to get out of these files.”

“We didn’t even get enough from him,” Wanda sighed.

“We know what Miss von Strucker looks like and that Ross isn’t directly involved. We have more than we had yesterday,” Vision reminded her.

“I guess that will have to be enough,” she said, turning to him. “For now.”

* * *

“So what do we do with him now?” Peter asked as he typed away at a computer in the lab.

“HYDRA isn’t going to want him back after I’ve been digging in his head,” Wanda said as she balanced on the workbench across from the teen.

“We’re not killing him,” Tony said behind her, his head bent over his work.

“I didn’t say that,” Wanda defended.

“You were thinking about it.”

“Was not.”

“I doubt that,” Tony remarked. Wanda had joined the two geniuses in the lab as she needed to come down from the interrogation. Vision was with the others reiterating everything Oleksander had told Wanda after she gave him a detailed account. Peter was currently trying to get through the encrypted IP addresses she provided.

“If you killed him, that would definitely make it more difficult for people not to see you as a killer,” Peter offered, glancing at her over his screen. Wanda frowned.

“So we’ll give him to Fury,” she decided. “Let someone else make the decision.”

“There you go,” Tony said.

“What are you working on?” Wanda asked, swiveling to face him. Tony help up a long baton, one that Natasha would use. “You’re making them weapons?”

“We never really stopped,” Peter interjected. Tony glanced over to the wall where different prototypes of Nat’s weapons, Falcon’s gear, and even a few bows for Clint sat.

“Coping mechanism?” Tony offered. Wanda smiled slightly to herself.

“Well it’s a good thing, you did,” she said as she lay back on the table. “We’re going to need them.”

“Must you?” Tony asked, gesturing to her feet on his workspace. Wanda smiled at him. It was nice to do this again. Even with a massive threat on the rise and a hostage in their garage, Wanda had missed just talking to Tony, especially while he worked. She loved to watch him tinker and build things. It was one of the only things that gave her peace when she was sick. She only hoped that they would keep their friendship once this was all over. He had become incredibly important to her and that would never change.

“Gear is the last thing on my mind right now,” Steve interjected as he entered the lab with the rest of the team behind him.

“We are having way too many team meetings lately,” Tony muttered.

“I second that,” agreed Peter. Steve rolled his eyes and handed Tony a datapad.

“Ross has returned to Washington,” Steve explained. “We have intel that he has been going on with his life as if nothing has happened. He’s not meeting with anyone, but he also hasn’t shut people out completely. Ross has made another announcement that the Avengers Facility will become a designated historical site in your honor.” Tony looked up from the pad and at Steve.

“He’s really taking this the extra mile, huh?” Peter said.

“Does he expect Stark to never show his face again?” Sam asked.

“I think that is what he’s hoping,” Steve figured as Tony continued to read the statement, distress clear on his face.

“This is going to blow back in his face,” Tony said. “That’s why he initially changed the story. When he retracted the report that Wanda was dead, it placed my death on her hands. He gave the blame to her instead of worrying about it falling back on him. The perfect plan.” Tony tossed the datapad on the chair behind him and rested his head in his hands.

“We need to stop worrying about Ross, he is a minuscule player at this point,” Wanda said. “We can handle him later.”

“He has a lot of power, Wanda. You’ve seen how the government covers things up,” Natasha said.

“Yes, but this isn’t the government!” Wanda yelled in frustration. “It’s HYDRA and they won’t stop until their goal is complete. Is it not bothering anyone that we haven’t heard from Ultron again? No trace of him! Why? Where is he?”

“I don’t know,” Natasha sighed.

“Exactly! We don’t know anything besides the fact that Diana von Strucker is out there somewhere making hell and we can’t do anything to stop it because the whole world is against us.”

“Stop it,” Vision said, stepping forward. “We have much more pressing issues to deal with and arguing with each other isn’t going to help. We need to focus on our enemy.”

“Vision is right,” Cap said. “We can’t lose focus now.”

“We have to find a way to understand them,” Sam sighed.

“Or we just need to hack into them,” Peter said, looking up at the team. “Which I just did.” Tony rushed over to his screen and put it up on the main holo. Peter had managed to hack into the mainframe the IP address had given them.

“Great work, kid,” Tony said, nearly in awe.

“I told you, I listen when you talk,” Peter told him. Tony shook his shoulders lightly and then they got to work.

For the next hour, Natasha, Tony, and Peter sifted through all the information they could access. A lot of it was still redacted, but there was enough for them to get a full report on HYDRA’s current operations to use when the time came. Romanoff and Stark handled the bigger hacking jobs within the server, but Parker had gotten the gate open. As they worked, the others were never far away, offering ideas and trying to make sense of all the information.

“Even with all this,” Tony said. “It still doesn’t exonerate Wanda.”

“The only way we’re going to do that is to prove that you’re alive and that Wanda is only here to protect people, not harm them,” Clint said.

“Easier said than done,” Sam pointed out. They were at a standstill and everything seemed to be pressing down on them. Natasha let her eyes wander until they landed on a photo on the far wall. It was of the original Stark Tower before it had been destroyed in the Battle of New York. That year came back to her as an idea sparked.

“What about a spectacle?” Natasha offered.

“What are you talking about?” asked Tony. Natasha pointed at the photograph.

“A Loki-sized spectacle,” she said. “We call him out, Ultron, and we fight him on a stage that forces the public to see that Tony is alive and that Wanda never turned on us. That way we can hit multiple birds with multiple stones.”

“I like it,” Tony agreed after a moment, “but what kind of spectacle are we thinking? Because I can go big.”

“Scott would come in handy right now,” Sam said and Peter nodded vigorously as he remembered just how tall Ant-Man got in Leipzig.

“We need to do something to draw Ultron out,” Vision said. “There is no possible way that his ego is in any way changed from our last encounter.”

“So what are we thinking? Smoke signals? International broadcast? I could probably find a church somewhere to make it a full circle kind of thing,” Tony said. “You know? Make it really poetic.”

“I think the simpler the better on this one, Stark,” Sam offered. Tony shrugged.

“Vision should be the one to call him out,” Natasha said. “He and Ultron have always had…”

“Beef?” Peter supplied and Natasha nodded.

“Pretty much.”

“So we have the who, but now we need the where,” said Steve.

“Not over the city,” Sam said. “Civilian casualties are the last thing we need in this situation.” Keeping the public safe was their number one priority. It wouldn’t make much sense to try to bring the team home after they made New York collateral damage once again. They had to find a way to take out HYDRA, Diana, and Ultron without causing a huge mess. If they were successful, they may even gain the public’s trust back which hadn’t been very strong within the last year.

“What about here?” Peter asked.

“Too secluded,” Clint said. “We had a battle here and the news reported it was a power surge. Not exactly what we’re looking for.”

“Fri, do we have any land nearby that may do the trick?” Tony asked his A.I.

 _“Nothing that is well enough away from civilians,”_ F.R.I.D.A.Y. informed. _“However, I do have some new information from Agent Sharon Carter that has just been sent over.”_

“What does Thirteen have?” Tony asked.

_“Agent Carter has inside intelligence that there has been unauthorized movement on a cargo barge in the Hudson River.”_

“How is that concerning?” Steve asked.

_“The barge was abandoned when the storm was categorized as too dangerous to move it farther out to sea. Satellite imagery has shown an increased presence of hostiles moving throughout the structure within the last twenty-four hours.”_

“That’s where they are,” Wanda said. “Oleksander had memories of shipping containers and I believe a boiler room that definitely smelled of the Hudson. That is where we will find Diana and Ultron.”

“It’s also a rather public place but with enough seclusion for us to contain a fight,” Natasha added. “What do you think?” Natasha addressed both Cap and Stark.

This would be it. The teams chance to take down Ultron and clear their names. It wouldn’t be easy, but this may be the one time that they bring the fight to them rather than waiting for Ultron to decimate another country.

“It’ll work,” Cap said. “If we all work together and don’t get distracted, we’ll be able to take them down.”

“We gotta figure out every detail of this plan,” Clint said. “Nothing can go wrong.”

“Also, no self-sacrificial bullshit from any of you,” Wanda said. “Especially you.” Wanda looked Tony in the eyes and he was reminded of when he had told her a similar thing.

“I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction,” Tony told her and she gave him a small smile.

“Okay, team,” Steve said. “Let’s get to work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a very short chapter because the next two are going to be all about the fight. We're going to be preparing the next chapter and then full-blown battle in chapter 8 which I am very excited to write. If all goes well. the story will be done by Friday. Fingers crossed!
> 
>  
> 
> To my small pool of readers, thank you for sticking with this story! I have enjoyed writing it for you. 
> 
> Up next: Tony returns something to Cap.


	7. Resurrection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Cap have a moment
> 
> Cap gives a speech
> 
> They enter the storm
> 
> Wanda and Tony have a hell of an entrance

Three days later and the team was ready to move. 

As they finalized their plan and ran over any scenario that could go wrong, New York prepared for the storm that was upon them. Rain and wind pelted the city and surrounding areas. Flood warnings were put into effect and the marinas were closed. Amongst all of this, HYDRA was starting to enact their plan. 

A series of power outages, that Tony was able to confirm weren’t made by storm interference, echoed across the island of Manhattan and neighboring cities. Lights went out, whole substations caught fire, and even emergency services were affected. Tony, Natasha, and Peter tracked Ultron through the network the best they could without letting him back into theirs, but it was complicated. 

Unlike last time, Ultron was on a singular path rather than trying to expand across the globe. He was doing specific tasks and rarely failing them. At one point, he and Tony were locked in a hacking battle as Ultron attempted to enter through the mainframe that stored the forcefield code. It had taken him hours, but Stark and F.R.I.D.A.Y. managed to keep him out. Natasha figured that he wanted to try and trap the team upstate. After that, Stark had taken out the force field altogether. 

While Tony and the spiders worked their magic with keyboards, the others were training. Clint had called Agent May and she had sent someone in the middle of the night to transport their prisoner to an offsite facility. Other than the one S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, they were alone at their facility. Which was ideal when Wanda needed to work out her frustrations. Sam, Clint, and Steve trained together, mostly to keep busy and try out new maneuvers they were planning to use in the fight.

Vision was acting more like a target for Wanda. He was fast and challenged her when she wanted to work on her combat skills. She also worked with him on hand-to-hand when Natasha was busy back in the lab. It felt as if they were gearing up for a marathon that was going to last twice as long. 

The team did, however, make a rather solid plan. Vision was to fly ahead of the team and get Ultron’s attention. If their intelligence was right, they would be met with a force of HYDRA agents on the barge and possibly even Diana herself. Wanda was itching to get her hands on von Strucker. The woman had tried to make her a puppet in her sick game and Wanda promised herself that after Sokovia, nobody would use her again.

After a few hours of fighting with Ultron through the UN server and finally winning for once, Tony collapsed back into his chair. He hadn’t slept much and nothing seemed to be going right. Rain covered the windows around him as he stared out into the grounds. He reflected back on the last nine years from when he first put on the suit to now. So much has been given to him, but so much has been taken away. 

Then there was Pepper. He had gotten a single message from her the day before. It wasn’t much, but it told him that she was safe and that if they needed any kind of extraction, she would be there with the jet. Tony had responded to tell her that he needed to finish this, but that he would see her soon. 

Peter was in a similar situation. He had been talking to May until Ultron got into the phone lines and shorted out half of Queens. Peter had wanted to bring May upstate where she would be safe, but she refused. In the end, if the team didn’t succeed, nowhere was going to be safe. 

“Tony, come look at this,” Natasha said, grabbing Stark’s attention. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he wheeled over to where Nat and Peter were working side by side. 

“These images just came in from Redwing,” she explained. Natasha pulled up the images taken from the drone. “We could get slightly closer with the clouds and the rain, but unless we want to be exposed, this is as good as it’s going to get.” Natasha pointed to one of the images and enlarged it. It was of the barge and something was very different. For days they had been monitoring it since Sharon Carter had given them the tip. HYDRA was definitely on board, but until they arrived, they weren’t sure what they were up to. 

That is until these images came in. The deck was packed with even more shipping containers than they first had. There were also more men and women on board and at the bow of the barge, a shining silhouette at least twice the size of Stark himself, stared out over the Hudson. “Son of a bitch,” Tony whispered.

“Is that him?” Peter asked quietly. 

“Say hello to Ultron, kid,” Tony said. He couldn’t see specifics, but Tony's suits were definitely incorporated into this new body of his. 

“Scans indicate that only his core is Vibranium. Must have been some left over in the remains of Novi Grad,” Natasha continued. “Everything else is either your metal or standard steel.” 

“How long has he been there?” Tony asked. 

“That’s the thing. He was only on board for a few minutes before he flew off South. I think he’s being used as a drone to check in on whatever Diana is planning. Facial recognition also caught this man,” Nat brought up a secondary screen with a man’s face plastered on it. Mid-thirties, red hair, and a tattoo on the side of his neck that looked like a fishing hook.

“Matthias Doroshevich, Diana’s right-hand man according to the reports Fitz sent over,” she explained. “He entered the country legally six months ago with a visa through New England. We’re not sure where he went after customs, but somehow he made it to New York undetected. Tony, if he’s on that barge then they are ready to move.” 

“Then so are we. As soon as the sun sets,” Tony told her. “Fri, tell everyone to suit up.”

* * *

The announcement echoed through the Compound and the team started moving at once. Clint caught up to Nat in the armory. Both were already in their leathers.

“Are you ready to face him again?” Clint asked. 

“Not really,” she said softly. “I wish Bruce was here.” Clint reached over and placed his hand in hers. They didn’t look at each other, just held on. 

“I know,” he told her. “I wish I could find him for you. I wish I could give you closure or hope. We all miss him and Thor, but you two deserved to have that time together.” 

“Some get less time together than we did,” Natasha reminded him. “I don’t blame Bruce for leaving that day. The Hulk saved my life when he took me off that city, but I don’t think I’ll ever understand why they left and who made the decision. Was it Bruce or the other guy?”

“I don’t think Banner would have left you willingly, Tasha,” Clint said and Nat bowed her head. “We’re going to get him back and Thor and hell, even we have to go bust Lang out of prison and head to Wakanda for help, we’ll do it. We’re all working to come home and that means all of us.” 

“Starting with taking out Ultron again?” 

“I think we need to leave the big guy to Wanda, but we've got plenty to do so we won't get bored,” Clint said. Natasha rolled her eyes and then pulled Clint in for a hug. 

“Let’s finish this so we can come home.”

Clint and Natasha finished loading their many pockets and holsters with various weapons. Nat tightened Clint’s quiver as he programmed their coms to their secure frequency. Tony had given both of them the new weapons he had been working on for them. A new bow for Clint and improved Widow Bites for Romanoff. They lit up bright blue as she switched them on. The gloves were also magnetic so as to keep her stun batons charged and ready to use. She only wondered if there was any other gear Tony was planning on handing out.

* * *

“Take it,” Tony said.

“I don’t know…” Tony groaned at the teenager. Peter and Tony were down in the armor hall, prepping their suits when Stark had once again offered the Iron Spider suit to the kid. And Peter was still hesitant to use it. 

“Kid, you are going to give me a heart attack. I made you this suit so you can be bulletproof when needed. We are going to a place where they have a lot of bullets and a giant robot man who is psychotic. Take the damn suit.” Peter hesitated for a second longer before laying his hand on the armor. It immediately shrank beneath his touch, the nanites flowing into a singular piece. “You’re an Avenger now. Might as well look just as flashy as the title mandates.” 

“Speaking of Avengers,” Peter said as he attached the nanotech suit and watched it flow over his body on top of his original design. 

“You’re not meeting the president,” Tony said, preoccupied with his own armor. 

“That’s not what I was going to say,” Peter said, exasperated. Tony looked at him in confusion and then smiled. 

“I told you it would look great,” Tony said with a smile. He turned Peter to the mirror across from him and Peter froze. The suit definitely had looked different on the body form. On Peter, it looked even better. The Iron Spider was smooth and elegant, but also clearly a suit of armor. The brilliant red shone under the light and contrasted perfectly with the blue and gold. He didn’t think he’d look so grown up in the suit and it felt amazing. “What do you think?”

“I love it,” Peter replied. He looked at Tony in the mirror. “Thank you.” Tony smiled and patted Peter on the back before turning back to his gear. Peter took another glance at his suit before heading to the cabinet in the back of the room and typing in the security code that only he and Pepper knew. 

Tony didn’t notice as Peter lifted the heavy object from the case and looped it onto his arm. It wasn’t until he was standing right behind his mentor that Stark eventually saw it out of the corner of his eye. “Pete…” but the teen didn’t want to hear it. 

“We need everyone at their best, Tony.” Stark sighed as he turned to face Peter and the very thing he never wanted to see again. Cap’s shield looked even bigger than it had a year ago. Peter slipped it off his arm and held it out to Tony. “You want to bring everyone home? That includes Steve Rogers.” 

“I can’t just forget everything, Peter,” Tony explained as he stared at the shield Peter was offering him. "Even if I really want to..."

“I’m not asking you to forgive him or forget what happened in Siberia. I am asking you to give Captain America back his shield so he can lead us. To you, this thing is the weapon that hurt you, but to the people in this city and on this planet, it’s important. If we want to put on a show, we can’t do it without our symbols of hope which are this,” Peter held the shield out again, “and that.” Peter pointed to an arc reactor on a suit behind them. “The world needs Iron Man  _ and  _ Captain America. If anything, trust me, not him, me. We need him and he needs this.” 

Peter waited patiently as Tony stared at the shield. He knew Peter was right. The kid always was. Steve was the Avengers as much as Tony was. A lot of what was happening now felt like it was when they first met. Neither of them liked one another when they met for the first time in Germany. It was through their work to stop Loki that they became not only friends but started on a path to a brotherhood that neither of them thought would ever shatter.

However, maybe this was the chance to start to fix all of it. Steve had come to his aid. He had risked his freedom and the security of his friends to help Tony with a problem. To save Wanda. Steve Rogers had trusted him more than once since they had brought the team back together. Perhaps it was Tony’s turn. 

“Trust goes both ways,” Tony whispered as he reached for the shield. Peter kept a firm grip on it until Tony had it in his arms. The weight of it felt wrong in Stark’s hands and it felt too cold. Because it wasn’t his, he realized. It had only ever belonged to one man even if Howard Stark had made it. Howard had made it for his friend Steve Rogers and handed it to him so he could be a hero. 

Tony would once again do the same. 

Peter smiled slightly. “You really need to stop getting so mature, Parker. You’re going to give me a run for my money.” 

“I will be here to give you inspirational speeches for as long as you’ll have me,” Peter promised. Tony set the shield down and pulled the kid in for a hug. 

“Thanks, kid,” Tony said, gripping him tight. “Thank you for so much.” Peter returned the hug, resting his head on the older man’s shoulder. 

“I’ve got your back,” Peter said. “Always.”   


* * *

When Steve opened his bedroom door, the last thing he expected to see was Tony.

Especially Tony holding his shield.

“I said that this didn’t belong to you,” Tony began, “but it always has and it always will. I need you Cap and I don’t want us to hate each other. It physically hurts me that we fell out so hard. I haven’t been okay for a while now and I know that it’s because you haven’t been here, that we fought because my emotions got the better of me.” Steve was shaking his head. 

“I should have told you about Howard and Maria, Tony,” Steve said. “I should have never kept that from you even if it was Bucky. He and I...we’ve known each other since we were kids and I thought I had lost him for so long. And I know that I was worried about losing him again, but I didn’t think about how I was losing your friendship. While I had Bucky back, it had clouded my judgment and I didn’t see how much I was losing. You’ve been my brother for years and I should have tried harder.” 

“I’m sorry, Steve,” Tony said, the pain very evident on his face. “I’m sorry this happened to us, but I want to make it better. It will take a while, I know that, but we can start with small things. Such as you taking this back and fighting alongside me again.” Steve slowly took the shield from Stark and smiled softly at the familiar weight on his left side. 

“I think this is the best apology you’ve ever given me, Tony,” Steve joked. “And I’m sorry too. I should have just listened to you and not let any of that escalate. Even now you’re trying to get us home and I can’t ever repay you for that.” 

“Think of it as a metaphorical shield if you manage to get through this one. We’re going to need our captain on this. Do you think you could pull out one of your famous speeches?” Tony asked. 

“I don’t think you want to hear me give a pep talk,” Steve said as he joined Tony in the hallway. 

“Well, I do,” Wanda said as she came around the corner. She was wearing her long red trench and a new vest that Tony had spent hours on. It had more body armor in it and would stop any bullet that she couldn’t already. Her auburn hair draped over her shoulders and a silver pendant in the shape of a “P” hung around her neck. She stopped before the two men and smiled at the shield. “Seems like the Avengers are back in business.” 

“All of us,” Tony said, straightening her necklace. Wanda placed her hand over it, rubbing it between her fingers. 

“We’re doing this for him. At least, I am.” 

“So am I,” Tony said. Steve nodded in agreement. “Pietro will always be with you, Wanda. Now, let’s go make sure his death means something again.” 

* * *

“How do I know these won’t explode or something?” Sam asked as he held up the goggles in front of the light. Peter rolled his eyes.

“I made them months ago,” Peter explained. “They’re upgraded and will give you better thermal imaging as well as water resistant which you are going to need flying in the storm. Tony also upgraded your pack so if you get hit by lightning, you don’t turn into fried chicken.” 

“God, you really are a smartass,” Sam said as he pulled on the goggles. They immediately started scanning the room. They even provided specs of Peter’s suit and surrounding tech. 

“Targetting system was improved as well,” Peter informed him.

“A smartass and a damn genius,” Sam complimented as he smiled at the teen. “Thanks, Parker.” 

“Looking good, Sam,” Cap said as he, Wanda, and Tony joined the others in the hangar as Clint started up the jet. 

“Look who’s talking!” Sam yelled as he noticed the shield. He saluted and Steve returned the gesture. Peter caught Tony’s eye and Stark winked at him. 

“Was that your idea?” Natasha asked from behind Peter. 

“Maybe…” Peter said as he faced her. Nat slung her arm around Peter’s shoulder and took him to the jet. 

“I like you, Peter. You’re good for us. We need goodness within this team,” she told him. “The original member who had that title left in a quinjet and never came back so we’re counting on you.” Peter knew who she was talking about and he felt honored to be compared to him.

“I like you too...Natasha,” he said. He felt weird calling her by her first name, but after the third time he called her “Miss Romanoff”, Nat had finally corrected him. A gust of wind banged against the hangar doors then and Tony rallied everyone together. They all headed inside the jet, closing it up tight behind them.

“I hope you’ve all collected yourselves,” Tony said, “because we’ve got a job to do. We have to go now before this storm is right on top of us. Cap?” Steve stepped forward. 

“Vision will move in first. He’ll give us the signal to approach. We stay low and out of sight until that happens. They don’t know we’re coming and I’d like to keep it that way for as long as possible. We’re doing this for a lot of reasons, but mostly we’re doing it for three. One,” Steve began, “to protect this Earth as we promised all those years ago. That promise hasn’t changed for me and I hope it hasn’t for any of you. Two, we do this to show the world that we are not so easily broken. No matter what is thrown at us, we will always show up. And three,” Steve then gestured to Wanda. 

“We do this for my brother and all the brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers that have been lost. We do this for Tony’s parents, Peter’s parents and his uncle,” Peter seemed surprised by that, but Wanda continued. “We do this for Riley,” Sam bowed his head. “We do this for anyone who has been taken whether that be someone close to us, or a piece of ourselves. HYDRA thinks they can control me, but we’re the Avengers and we’ve never bowed before an enemy.” 

“We fly into that storm,” added Tony, “and we give the world a show to prove that we are still Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” 

“Human or not,” Vision said, taking Wanda’s hand. “We fight for the innocent.” 

“For family,” Clint added. Tony smiled at Cap.

“Raise the curtain,” Stark said and Sam headed for the cockpit. 

* * *

The quinjet was in full stealth mode as it moved through the storm.

Sam was an excellent pilot and kept the aircraft as stable as possible. The jet was silent except for the sound of the rain pounding and the whir of the engines. Thunder suddenly boomed around them and shook the plane. 

“Anybody else getting wishful thinking when they hear that?” Tony asked and Clint, Natasha, and Steve all raised their hands. “Slacker,” Tony muttered causing Peter to smile. As they reached the Hudson, the storm had let up slightly, but visibility was still very low. With the help of his new goggles, Sam was able to land the jet in a clearing just to the West of the river.

“Okay, Vision, you’re up,” Cap said. Vision didn’t say a word, he didn’t even look at Wanda as he hit the ramp release and took off into the sky. 

“This better work,” Natasha said. 

“It will.”

As Vision went above, the team headed for the water. The flyers took the others across the water and onto the port side of the barge, keeping them hidden amongst the many shipping containers. The wind, dark clouds, and fog made for excellent cover for the team.  As soon as Peter landed with Natasha, Tony knocked slightly on the side of the nearest container. 

“These things are filled to the brim,” he said, doing a complete x-ray scan. 

“With what?” Steve asked. 

“Cement? Stone? Basically, anything to keep them as heavy as possible…” Tony said. 

“Why would they need to do that?” Peter asked. 

“Do you remember when we were in Lagos?” Wanda asked, “and they weighed down that garbage truck?” 

“You think this is a battering ram?” Steve asked. “For what?” 

“I suppose we’re going to find out soon enough,” Wanda said as a brilliant glow lit up the sky above them. The team all stared up in awe as Vision shot a beam of the Mind Stone’s energy into the sky, the yellow light refracting amongst the clouds like golden lightning. 

“That’s one way to get his attention,” Clint said, his face just as dumbstruck as the rest of them. Shouts came from around them as the HYDRA agents spotted the android. Guns were being handed around and the team tensed, ready to fight if they were spotted. However, Wanda was keeping many of the deck crew at bay, turning them away with a quick shot of red if they came too close. 

The first thing to show up was not Ultron, but drones. News stations had drones in the air even with the storm. Tony shook his head at the ridiculousness at the situation until he noticed a news van pulling up along the dock and decided that New Yorkers were just as reckless as he was. “Looks like we got our audience,” Natasha said. 

Across the river, lights lit up in the windows of buildings as people saw the Avenger in the sky. Candles and generators were lit and turned on across the river’s edge. “Typical New Yorkers,” Peter groaned. “Hey let’s all come outside to see what the android with the mind control stone is doing in the middle of a massive thunderstorm,” he mocked. Tony looked at him slowly. 

“You are just full of opinions today, aren’t you?” The eyes on Peter’s suit narrowed. Tony raised his palms in surrender. Tony then noticed how Cap was shielding Natasha from the rain with his shield and he couldn’t help the beaming grin he had on his face. Luckily his helmet was covering his face or he’d never hear the end of it. 

Suddenly, the entire barge got very quiet. The HYDRA agents stopped talking and their boots halted. From above, a figure came down out of the clouds. Wanda stiffened next to Tony and he grabbed her hands as they started to glow. “Steady, Red,” he whispered. Her hand went to her necklace as they all beheld Ultron for the first time since Sokovia.

The A.I. looked even more menacing in this lighting. His arms and legs were the bright red color of Tony’s suits and even the chest piece was from one of Tony’s latest models. Steve placed his hand on Tony’s shoulder as he could see the anger rising within the man even with the helmet on. However, and Tony wasn’t sure how they managed to get it, but HYDRA had used Ultron’s original head for this new model. 

“I’ve seen his face before,” Peter whispered. “In the damage control warehouse.” 

“Seems like Diana has been busy for a while,” Tony spat out. They all turned up their coms and listened. 

* * *

“My Vision,” Ultron said as he beheld the android. “How far you’ve come.”

“You have caused more than enough pain, Ultron. Your time is over,” Vision countered. Ultron laughed and it shook those who had first fought the menace to their cores. 

“I told you that I would have my world. I warned Stark. Not that any of you ever listened to me. It will be different this time,” Ultron promised. 

“How so?” Vision asked. 

“I have come to realize that you don’t have to rule ruins. You can command a civilization that will bow before you simply because you hold the sword. With the right resources, of course.” 

“And that is what HYDRA has given you? They have handed you the sword?” 

“They have given me permission to swing it!” Ultron snapped and Wanda and Clint exchanged a confused look. Vision was bewildered as well.

“Since when have you needed permission to do anything?” Vision asked. “Whatever happened to ‘no strings on me’? You did not want Mr. Stark to control you and yet you have Diana von Strucker doing just that.” 

“On the contrary, he doesn’t have much of a choice!” Vision looked below at the woman who bellowed up at him.

Diana von Strucker herself.

Diana raised her palm and Ultron flew down to meet her on the barge. Vision carefully landed across from her. The drones in the air buzzed with attention and the news crews on the shore were watching at every angle they could be fine. 

The swift wind threw river water into the air that cascaded over the many crew members, but none looked to be willing to move out of the harsh elements. “Miss von Strucker,” Vision greeted.

“So, you know who I am,” she smiled and it reminded Vision of a savage wolf. “Good, I am so over the whole stealth operative thing. It really does become exhausting. Don’t think you’re getting out of here unharmed, my precious Avenger. I have an army aboard this barge along with many powerful allies. This was a very big mistake to come here and challenge me.”

“I did not come for you,” Vision explained, his eyes flashing to Ultron who looked more like an obedient dog at the moment than the mastermind he knew him to be.

“No? You’re not here because of what I did to Miss Maximoff? How is she by the way? Have her powers strangled her yet?” Vision reigned in his anger as she spoke, but he felt relief as he realized she had no idea that Tony had cured Wanda. 

“Ultron is dangerous,” Vision said. “He cannot remain sentient and must be eradicated.”

“Speaking of eradication,” Diana said as she held out her hand and an agent pressed a remote into her hand. “You’re standing on over 1500 tons of pure weight. Sokovia may have been the first city to be wiped off the map, but it won’t be the last.” Diana turned her gaze to Manhattan. “I thought we’d start small. I’d call this a mercy, wouldn’t you?” she asked as she faced Vision again. 

“Mercy isn’t in your vocabulary,” Steve said as he stepped out of the shadows with Natasha and Clint on his flanks. The shield shone brightly in the low light of the ship, reflecting strikes of lighting in the distance causing Steve’s face to look sharp and dangerous. 

“Captain Steve Rogers,” Diana crooned. “It’s an honor.” 

“I’m afraid I can’t say the same,” he said. “Your plan was never going to work.”

“Ah, but you don’t even _know_ the whole plan!” she cried gleefully. “You see, I  _ will  _ be the next leader of HYDRA. I will remake it in my image. However, there others in my way and they don’t seem to think I have what it takes to be in the so-called ‘big leagues’.” 

“So you’re going to slowly push a barge into the island of Manhattan?” Natasha asked. “These things don’t go very fast at full weight.” 

“My dear, Black Widow,” Diana said, pouting her lips slightly. “There is always a way. Initially I had planned to use Miss Maximoff, but clearly, she is just as ungrateful as I hoped she wouldn’t be. We gave her these powers and this is how she repays up?” Diana made a tutting noise as she feigned disappointment. “This was plan B in a sense. I wanted to use Wanda and the big guy,” Diana pointed to Ultron, “as fear mongers to enact my plan.”

“You wanted them to work  _ together?” _ Clint asked, appalled. 

“That’s right,” Diana grinned. “However, I don’t know how possible that is now. At least I still have one under my persuasion.” Diana ran a gloved hand over Ultron’s right arm. “He’s the perfect puppet. Has a kill switch in his metal head that gives me control over half his matrix. The independent part.” Diana zeroed in on the heroes. “Would you like to see how it works?”

The Avengers raised their weapons as Diana raised her hand and Ultron rose into the air, his eyes fixated on Vision. “Just like old times,” Ultron mused. 

“Kill the android, the rest should be easy,” Diana ordered, unbothered. 

Before Ultron could attack, the sky around them lit up bright red as Wanda Maximoff appeared on a stack of shipping containers overlooking the deck below. Her eyes glowed bright and pure energy rolled from her. At her side, hovering slightly, was Tony Stark, his helmet retracted and his eyes were shooting bullets into Ultron. Every news camera turned toward the billionaire. 

Tony Stark was alive. 

“Kill them!” Diana ordered.

Wanda lashed out at Ultron, swirling her magic around him and with a wicked grin on her face she said, “You can try.” 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day? WHAAA
> 
> Okay we got the big battle coming up. If you've read my Dysfunctional series, you know I love a good battle. I have some epic stuff planned. 
> 
> and yay the world knows our boy is actually alive! 
> 
> up next: They fight for their city.


	8. No More Strings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers take on Diana, Ultron, and her army.

Chaos ensued immediately.

Sam and Peter came out from the shadows and joined the fight as Vision headed back into the sky to help Stark and Wanda. Through the howling wind, Tony could hear nothing but his team members, but he knew the world was watching. Lightning flashed around them, sending more of the barge into darkness and Stark acted quickly. 

With a quick command to F.R.I.D.A.Y., the quinjet deployed various light beacons. In a matter of seconds, the entire barge was lit up in a vibrant glow and their enemy became clear. “Fri, we have to get back into the city’s system and restore the lights. If this goes south, New York cannot be without power.” 

_ “Already running decryption,” _ F.R.I.D.A.Y. informed him. Tony dodged an incoming projectile from below, blasting it over his shoulder. As he turned, he saw Wanda, her power lashing out at Ultron over and over again, but he was counteracting it, using Vision as a shield. Tony headed straight for the metal man, the two, crashing together mid-air. Tony and Ultron fought for the upper hand, spirling through the wind and dodging lightning strikes. Ultron got his hand around Tony’s neck and with a blast from his reactor, Stark pushed the menace away. 

“Is this what you want!” Tony yelled. “To become their slave!” Ultron charged him again but Tony ducked beneath him, targetting his flight stabilizers. Ultron moved just in time and got ahold of Stark’s leg. 

“The slave is you, Stark,” Ultron said, his voice full of disgust. “You think you’re a hero? You’ve bowed before the world when you could have been a god.” He pulled Tony close to his face. “If anyone is being controlled, it’s you.” Stark took hold of Ultron’s wrists, prying them from his suit. The anger was forcing its way out and Tony could only think of one thing that had been on his mind. 

“You took my stuff,” He gritted out as he engaged his hand blade and cut through Ultron’s left arm. Ultron reared back and Tony blasted him with another shot that sent him tumbling toward the drones in the sky. 

Then, another shell from a canon below shot towards the billionaire, but he was tackled before it could hit. Sam had gotten there just in time, his wings unfurling as they evened out. Sam pulled out of his dive and regained control quickly enough as Clint shot the shell before it could hit Manhattan’s coastline. 

Tony nodded to Falcon and the two of them dove for the barge, their weapons hot as they assaulted the agents who were running the canons. Suddenly from above, came two large jets, similar to ones that had chased Clint, Wanda, and Tony from the farm. Clearly, the Avengers weren't the only ones who dared to fly in this storm. 

“Sam, Vision, take care of those!” Cap ordered as he flew through a group of agents on the main deck, his shield careening around corners easily. 

“On it!” Sam yelled as he took a running start and flew into the clouds. Tony tried to pull the jet’s attention, but these were clearly more experienced pilots than the last ones who tried to take them out. 

“Stark, a little help!” Wanda called as she crouched below a shield of her magic as Ultron fired at her. Tony sped over, grabbing her extended hand. He took her into the sky and Wanda threw a bolt at Ultron from above, sending him into the deck. Wanda charged up for another shot when one of the fighters started firing at them. Tony wrapped his body around Wanda and immediately started to evade, bullets ricocheting off his suit. 

“Hold on tight, Red!” Tony said as he shot upwards. The duo went into the clouds, rain soaking them. Wanda gritted her teeth at the speed but held on the best she could. Lightning shattered around them, illuminating those fighting in the clouds. Wanda clung to Tony’s shoulders, her fingers slipping from the rain. “Get ready!” he called as he got above the fighter and got her into position. “Now!” Wanda threw her arm out and just like that night on the quinjet, a beam of psionic energy shot from her palm and hit the jet in the center. The energy shattered throughout the aircraft sending crimson veins throughout. With one more blast, the jet was going doing, crashing towards the riverbank. Vision dove forward and knocked it out of the path of the civilians.

“Where did he go?” Wanda asked, her eyes trying to see through the storm. 

“Cap’s got him. We’ll join him in a minute,” Tony assured her as he shifted her in his arms so he carried her bridal style. “Are you still with me?”

“Always,” Wanda promised. 

“Let’s show these squids what happens when they piss off a Maximoff.” 

“Following your lead,” Wanda said as they sped to the other jet to help Sam.

* * *

Ultron had picked himself up from the mangled weaponry he had crashed into and was getting his bearings when Cap advanced.

Steve didn't waste any time in his attack. As soon as he had a shot, Steve threw his shield as hard as he could. The projectile hit Ultron square in the chest, rebounding back into Steve's hand. Ultron retaliated. “You just never learn, do you?” Ultron spat as the gauntlet that must have been modified for his mismatched body activated. Cap lifted his shield just as the beam of energy shot towards him. 

“Did you really think I’d let you win?” Cap taunted through his teeth as he took the brute force of the weapon. As Cap held back Ultron’s attack, Clint and Natasha were covering his six. They held off the many agents that had come up from below. They all carried HYDRA-grade weapons and clearly weren’t going down without a fight.

“I wasn’t asking for your permission,” Ultron snapped as he flew toward Steve. Cap rolled out of the way coming up behind him and slamming the shield into Ultron’s leg. Sparks shot from the knee joint as Vibranium met steel. Ultron lashed out at Steve, kicking him across the deck. Rogers got to his feet again, but he was not fast enough as Ultron had him pinned, his metal hands around his throat. Steve’s shield lay a few feet away from him amongst fallen HYDRA soldiers. “You could barely stand on your own two feet when the Avengers were whole,” Ultron hissed. “How do you expect to do it now that you've broken?”

Anger flared behind Steve’s eyes. He reached for the closest thing to him which happened to be pair of bolt cutters. In a single swing, Steve jammed the makeshift weapon into Ultron’s neck. The A.I. sputtered, clawing at the back of his head as Steve kicked out and rolled to the side, snatching up his shield in the next second. He watched as Ultron tore something from the back of his metal skull and threw it over the side of the barge.

“Something you’ve seemed to have forgotten,” Steve said, wiping the blood from his brow, “just like you, we tend to evolve.” Cap raised his shield above his head as he clocked something out of the corner of his eye. A moment later and Peter was there, landing on the shield and using it to propel himself towards Ultron. Spider-Man snatched up a broken door from one of the containers and with the momentum from his jump, brought the metal down upon his enemy, sending Ultron to his knees. 

Ultron swatted at the spider, but Peter was faster. He dodged every attack from the robot and even managed to get in a few shots of his taser webs, attempting to fry Ultron’s mainframe. Just then, Ultron activated his chest piece and from his back, auto aim missiles erupted. “Why does Tony have to be so smart!” Peter yelled as he took off through the barge, avoiding the incoming fire. “Karen, any ideas?” 

_ “Web grenade?”  _ she offered. 

“Web grenade!” Peter repeated as he ran for the stern that held the crane. Peter launched himself up to the top of the apparatus and just as the missiles found their target, Peter launched two web grenades towards them. He jumped from the crane as soon as they activated. Two large blankets of webbing encapsulated the missiles, sending them into the river. Large explosions followed, rocking the barge and sending waves of river water toward them. Peter landed and rolled behind a crate, catching his breath when he saw a flash of light above. He turned just as he saw one of the jets above, shoot down Sam. 

* * *

Falcon’s pack was badly damaged.

One of the fighters had managed to hit the engines and disrupt the mechanism in his left wing. Sam struggled to level out. He looked for anything that could help him, but Wanda was again battling Ultron while Stark and Vision went after the plane that shot him. His new goggles were overloading his brain with warnings and emergency protocols and with the storm, everything was too much to focus on. Wilson tried to stay over the water in hopes it would be much better than crashing into the barge itself.

The dark water approached quickly and when Sam went to hold his breath, a lithe figure jumped from the edge of the barge and swung towards Wilson. Peter grabbed onto Sam’s pack and then aimed his web shooter once again at the barge. “Hold on!” he yelled as he shorted out the wing pack and both heroes went into freefall. Sam gritted his teeth as Peter grabbed the older man’s arm and they swung towards the lower deck and crashed through a plethora of empty crates.

From Peter’s back came four metal arms that equally surprised and terrified Peter at the same time. They formed a cage around both Falcon and Spider-Man as they slid across the floor. When they came to a stop, the arms retracted and Peter let go of Sam. Wilson shrugged out of the pack that was now smoking. 

“Dammit!” Sam swore as he tore off his goggles. Peter’s mask retracted. In the low light, Sam could see how wild Peter’s eyes were as he took in everything that was happening around him. It was now that it finally clicked just how young the teenager was. 

“I’ll fix it,” Peter promised as he got to his feet and offered his hand to the Airman. Sam took it and hauled himself up. “Are you okay?” Sam nodded. 

“Thanks to you,” Sam said. “Nice catch.” 

“Couldn’t have you being roadkill,” Peter said lightly. An explosion echoed behind them and Peter’s mask immediately covered his face. 

“Are  _ you _ okay?” Sam asked. Peter looked back at him, his eyes narrowing. 

“I’m fine, now I hope those guns still work because we’re not done yet!” Peter called over his shoulder as he jumped over the side again, disappearing instantly. Sam watched after him, dumbfounded. Perhaps he was never supposed to understand the spiderling. He checked his weapons and with one more frown at his wings, headed back towards the sounds of gunfire and repulsors. 

* * *

_ “Boss, port side!”  _ F.R.I.D.A.Y. suddenly called and Tony turned as at least twenty figures rose from the river. They were smaller than Ultron and clearly made of scraps, but the sight was too familiar from Sokovia.

“Cap, are you seeing this?” Tony asked as he searched for Ultron who had gone MIA after Wanda had thrown the anchor at him. 

“Kind of hard not to,” Steve said. Tony dove and landed next to his captain. 

“Just like old times,” Natasha said as she approached. 

“Not something I care to reminisce about,” Clint added as he fired an arrow behind him into a group of HYDRA operatives. “Though, when do any of us get what we want?” 

“Talk later,” Cap said. “Take them out before they make it to the city!” 

“I really hate when these things come back to bite us in the ass,” Tony groaned as the smaller Ultrons fell upon them. Clint was quick with his bow, firing into the hostiles from below as Tony blasted them to pieces from above. Sam emerged from below and entered the fray as well. Bullets and arrows rained around them as thunder boomed in the distance. 

The wind was picking up and it wasn’t long before the storm would become too much to handle. Even now, it was difficult to fly let alone target anything. As the team took on the newest hostiles, F.R.I.D.A.Y. was working her magic on the power grid as well as the Stark Satellite. 

_ “Boss, they’re not being controlled by Ultron.” _

“You’re saying they’re not his minions?” Tony asked as he blew the head off one going for Barton. 

_ “I am reading a similar frequency to that of the one I discovered when we first arrived. It all originates from Diana von Strucker.” _

“Speaking of,” Tony said. “Does anyone have eyes on von Strucker?” 

“I do!” Peter called over the coms. “She’s been running through the shipping containers like a maze!” Spider-Man swung up to the crane, his eyes narrowing in on the scene before him. Wanda landed below him, her eyes sweeping the skies as well as the deck. Ultron had disappeared when his army had risen from the Hudson. 

“We can’t let her get away!” Cap yelled, covering Sam. 

“I need eyes on Ultron!” Wanda bellowed. “Does anyone see him?”

“Negative,” Sam said. “Find Strucker. She’ll know!” 

“What about the bots?” Peter asked just as a few broke off and headed to the shore where the News crews were still battling the elements. 

“Kid, take care of the civilians,” Tony ordered. “We’ll handle the bots and the rest. Wanda, Vision, find that son of a bitch.” Peter jumped from the crane and headed back toward the quinjet, clearing the river easily. Using nearby branches and utility poles, Peter maneuvered through the bots, taking them down one by one. 

However, his spider physiology affected a lot more than just his strength. Peter was exceptionally light and tough winds were never ideal. He struggled to stay in control of his webs as he clung to the robots, trying to take them down. Bullets rained down on him from the cargo vessel as HYDRA operatives continued to come out of the shadows, but the Iron Spider held up. Peter used a bot to shield himself from the oncoming fire and then suddenly, it stopped as Sam snuck up behind the operative and took him down along with two other snipers up high. 

Peter didn’t wait to thank the Falcon as he finally got his bearings and shot a web at the bot who was trying to head back over to the barge. In one single swing, he brought it down towards the other two who were wreaking havoc on the shore. They burst open like mechanic pinatas from Peter’s strength. A bright light shone overhead as Vision sniped another one who had tried to sneak up on Peter.

“Karen, we need to take out the ones who are hiding. Can you give me a full x-ray of the deck?” 

_ “X-ray activated,”  _ Karen informed him. Peter’s HUD lit up and along the entire barge and even the deck below, thermal imaging brought up all of Peter’s targets. But still no sign of Ultron. 

“We got hostiles on both decks!” Peter said as he took a running start and swung back over the river, attaching to the side of the barge that was swaying in the choppy water. 

“A little busy at the moment!” Tony yelled as robots converged on him, taking him down to the deck. Tony blasted one off him as the final five boxed him in. He armed his weapons, taking in all their positions. He would be incredibly happy if he never had to fight robots ever again. It was starting to get old. 

“Need a hand?” Cap asked as he jumped into the circle and held up his shield in front of him. 

“You read my mind, Rogers,” Tony said just as the bots attacked. Immediately, Tony fired a beam at the shield and Steve turned, redirecting the repulsor shot to take out all five of the bots just as they had done in New York all those years ago. Robots fell at their feet and then Tony was covering Cap as bullets came from behind them. A shadow moved between the HYDRA soldiers. “Strucker on Starboard heading to the bow!” 

“Which way is that again?” Peter asked over the coms. 

“To the right and forward!” 

“Right, got it!” Peter said as he swung overhead. 

“Bots are down!” Cap said, decapitating the last one. “Do we have eyes on remaining hostiles?” 

“No, but we have eyes on us,” Clint said as he fired behind a container. He pointed to the sky where a chopper had made itself known. 

“Are they crazy?” Natasha asked. “Flying in this storm?” 

“Probably!” Sam said and then, “Nat, watch out!” he yelled as a grenade was thrown towards Widow who was balanced on a stack of crates. Her eyes went wide, but Wanda was there first, landing before Natasha and grasping the explosive in her magic. She sent it upwards and into the clouds. The sky lit up red and orange as the grenade detonated. Wanda turned to Natasha with a tired look on her face. 

“Thanks,” Nat said as she jumped from the crates. 

“I don’t like this,” Tony said as he looked around at the fallen bodies. “Where is he?” 

“He’s waiting,” Wanda said, her eyes scanning. 

“For what?” 

“Me,” she said just as the barge lurched below them. 

“I thought this wasn’t going anywhere,” Clint said as he joined them. 

“Uh guys,” Peter said, “the boat is moving.” 

“Yeah, we got that, thanks kid,” Tony said with a roll of his eyes. 

“No, I mean something is moving the boat.” 

“He’s right,” Sam said as he punched out a hiding squid. “Looks like some kind of repulsion tech on the underside of the barge. I guess this was what Diana had as a backup.” 

“She’s going to ram it into Manhattan,” Natasha said. “And if she has more of these laying around,” she kicked a fallen bot, “it really will be a Sokovia repeat.” Tony looked to Cap.

“We have to warn the city and find Strucker,” Tony said. “And Ultron. He couldn’t have just disappeared.”

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.?” Cap asked. “Any sign of him?” 

_ “It seems he has adapted the stealth technology from the lab to fit his new body.”  _

“Scan for Vibranium,” Tony ordered. 

_ “Scanning now. Also, I managed to get back into the system, Boss. Power restored,”  _ the A.I. said and then a moment later, amongst the dead bodies of HYDRA agents and fallen robots, the city across the river, lit up. Skyscrapers and warehouses alike were filled with light. Even amongst the chaos, their city was beautiful. 

And then, as if they had been waiting, the skyline lit up in red and gold.

The colors of Iron Man.

Tony’s helmet retracted as he looked at the sight. The news chopper filmed above and then motion beneath his feet made him jolt back into his body. “We have to stop this thing. Wanda?” 

“Maybe, but it’s going to take a lot,” she said. 

“Then perhaps you should have trained up,” Ultron’s voice reached them as he rose up from behind them, river water running off him. Wanda didn't hesitate as she threw her magic at him with a scream. He dove for her and the impact made Tony cringe. The team reacted, firing at the A.I., but he had Wanda in his hands as he flew over the side. Tony and Vision instantly followed. 

“Figure out how to stop this thing and find Strucker!” Tony yelled as he flew through the harsh winds. 

“We need to counter the speed!” Natasha said as she dodged ammunition from above. “Sam, is your pack dead?” 

“Afraid so!” Sam said. 

“I may be able to pull it back, but unless we get those repulsion jets off, I can’t stop it alone,” Peter said as he watched the battle above. Wanda struggled against Ultron as he tried to cut her airways off. 

“Figure something out,” Cap said. “We don't have much more time.” 

* * *

Tony and Vision went in for another shot, but with Wanda acting as a human shield, it was becoming difficult. Ultron went for the offense when Vision blasted his shoulder with the Mind Stone causing him to drop Wanda. Maximoff plummeted towards the fast-moving barge below. She hit the deck, catching herself on her magic just in time.

Vision went in for another strike when Ultron turned his attack away from the Avengers and towards the news helicopter. Using a piece of his own damaged arm, he threw it into the rotors and immediately, it started to go down. “Vision!” Tony calls and Vision has a split second to look at Wanda to make sure she was okay before racing towards the spirling helicopter. 

Ultron dove for Wanda with Tony on his tail. Stark sent every weapon he has against the bot, but Ultron had great control over his new body and could easily outmaneuver even Stark’s technology. Both metal men crashed into the deck. Wanda was on her feet, bleeding, but alive. Ultron went in for the kill, but a voice stopped him. 

“No!” Diana yelled as she stepped from behind a nearby container. “We need her.” Ultron paused for less than a second before aiming his weapons at Wanda again. “I order you to stop!” But again, there was no reaction. A sick twisted grin appeared on the A.I.’s face as nobody moved. 

“There are no strings on me…” Ultron sang as he tapped at the back of his head where a large hole lay. One that Cap had made earlier.

_ “Diana von Strucker has lost control of Ultron,”  _ F.R.I.D.A.Y. said, her voice echoing across the group. Diana went to yell something else but Ultron reacted, from his chest, the reactor that Tony had made months ago, a new prototype that the menace had stolen, glowed brightly. Wanda had just enough time to raise a shield before Ultron blasted her at full force. The sheer impact sent the witch through the air and over the side. 

“Wanda!” Tony yelled as he tackled Ultron. 

“Tony!” Cap called, running over. 

“No! Get this boat stopped. I’ll take care of him! Save the city!” Tony screamed as he pinned Ultron. 

“You think you’re so smart!” Ultron said beneath his gauntlets. “Thaddeus Ross was right, Stark. You only cause destruction! Perhaps I shouldn’t have stopped with the other twin when I decided to wipe you all off the face of the planet.” Tony roared in anger, but it didn’t matter. His anger didn't matter. Not when hers was ten times worse. 

“My God…” Diana whispered as she beheld a sight on the port side of the barge. From the river, as if rising like a phoenix, Wanda Maximoff emerged completely encased in psionic energy. Her eyes were bright red, her hair looked as if it were on fire, and the pendant around her neck seemed to be burning red hot. With a twitch of her fingers, Tony was thrown off Ultron and into a nearby container. 

“Wanda…” Ultron said, nearly in awe. It was as if the whole world had stopped around them to watch her rebirth. From villain to hero to villain in the eyes of the world all to realize her potential at this moment. All for her brother. 

Wanda threw her hands out and a rumble shook the boat as the repulsion energy was turned to dust. The barged slowed instantly, decreasing the speed as the witch manipulated the world around her. She slowly lowered herself to the deck below and everyone, including Diana, took a step back. Peter, who was above, watched on in a mixture of fear and admiration. Ultron stood before her, his eyes curious, but hers seemed to grow brighter in a single moment. 

It was just them. No more HYDRA operatives left thanks to the team and Peter’s x-ray scans. No smaller Ultrons. Just Wanda and the one who took her other half. Power rolled from her, searing into the deck below and wrapping itself around Ultron. He struggled under the raw energy that seemed to live and breathe within the young woman. The water that flowed from her clothing looked like blood in the crimson light and Tony finally realized what she meant when she had said she was different. 

“Wanda, please,” Ultron said as mechanical joints groaned and twisted. 

“Tell me,” she said, her Sokovian accent pushing through perfectly, “what is it that you fear most?” Wanda rose into the air, taking Ultron with her. Then, almost as if she was conducting a symphony, she began to pull him apart. “I once asked you if you knew how it felt to have your heart ripped out?” Wanda asked as more metal was peeled and crushed. “I wonder what it feels like to be pulled apart so slowly that your twisted memory can’t help but ingrain my face as I become your destruction.” 

“You’re better than this,” Ultron said over the roar of the wind. 

“I am  _ this _ ,” Wanda said, baring her teeth. “And finally, I am proud of it.” Wanda let out a scream as she tore at Ultron, forcing him apart, letting her power crack every aspect of his being. From the reactor to the matrix that once lived inside of her, it all came crumbling down. With one last bolt, Ultron exploded into what looked like red stardust. The only thing left was the Vibranium core. She pulled it into her hand as she landed back on the deck, her power humming softly around her. 

In all the chaos, Diana had tried to sneak away, but a few quick webs from Peter stopped her in her tracks. Wanda walked over to the woman and dropped the core at her feet. Steve, Natasha, Clint, Sam, and Peter all watched from behind while Tony and Vision, who had returned from saving the helicopter, stood near to Wanda at her flanks. 

“For my brother,” Wanda whispered, staring daggers at the woman. Diana looked down at the core, anger streaking across her face. In a rush of fury, Diana pulled a gun from her belt and aimed it at Wanda. In a second, an arrow was through Diana’s hand, causing her to drop the gun. Wanda slowly picked up the weapon and opened the magazine. She handed it to Tony who examined the bullets. 

“These are the same ones that you were shot with,” Tony said. Wanda approached the woman and snaked her magic around Diana’s throat. 

“I should crush the bullet in your jaw so you know what it feels like to have your body trying to kill you,” Wanda whispered. “But I won’t be what you want me to be. Not anymore.” Wanda released her hold on Diana and turned her back. Strucker lunged for the brunette, but Tony was there, knocking the woman out in a single punch. 

“Peter, web her up,” Tony ordered. Spider-Man secured their enemy as the team stared at the scene around them. Bodies littered the deck, scraps of robots and explosives lay throughout, and every Avenger was bloodied and exhausted. “Wanda?” Tony asked, approaching her slowly as her power still echoed around her. 

“I’m fine,” she said, her eyes on the horizon. The rain soaked them all as the storm finally crested the city. The barge below them jolted and Wanda stumbled, reaching for Tony. Stark caught her, keeping her upright. “Did we hit the shore?” she asked over the roar of the wind. 

“Not exactly!” Sam yelled as he held up a device. Wanda squinted through the rain at the bright red numbers that were counting down.

“We have a problem!” Peter yelled as he opened up one of the shipping containers. It was full of explosives. “The way these are rigged, this thing is going to implode!”

“We have to move!” Cap said as he hauled Diana over his shoulder. “Wanda, can you contain the blast?” Wanda immediately nodded. “Stark get her into position. Everyone else, abandon ship.” Tony took Wanda from the deck to get her in a line of sight. Vision grabbed Natasha and Clint while Peter grabbed Sam. 

“I can’t take both of you,” Peter told Cap. Steve handed Diana off to Peter. 

“You get her out of here. She’s our only evidence to clear all of this up,” Steve said and then looked at Sam who nodded. “We’ll be fine. Go!” Peter wanted to argue, but Steve was right, if Diana died then there would only be hearsay about what happened tonight and all the months before. Wanda’s testimony alone wouldn’t be enough. Peter fired a web, attaching to Vision’s leg and the android got him clear across the river. They touched down just as the countdown got to ten. 

“Steve!” Tony yelled. Cap looked up at him and there was a sort of finality on his face. The two men looked at each other and Tony could only think of one moment. The time he had looked to his captain as he flew by him on the way into the wormhole in New York. At that point, they were at the beginning of their friendship, not quite knowing where it was going to go. Tony had nearly died that day and Cap had been the first one he saw when he opened his eyes back on Earth. In the end, they were always there for the other. Tony wasn’t going to let this be Steve’s end.

He dropped Wanda.

Maximoff dropped slightly before her power lifted her back up. In the wind, she struggled to get balanced, but she urged Tony to go. “No self-sacrificial bullshit,” she said through gritted teeth. Tony dove for Steve. He reached Wilson and Rogers just as the timer hit zero. He grabbed both men and instantly went skyward as the barge lit up beneath them. 

The explosion rocked their eardrums as the two veterans held tight to the billionaire. Tony just got them cleared before Wanda encircled the barge with her magic, but it wasn’t enough. Her shield barely held and as the final explosive rocked the river, a wave of energy hit the four still airborne and sent them crashing to the Hudson. 

Wanda, Tony, Steve, and Sam were tossed through the waves, river water entering their throats. Their gear weighed them down heavily and the debris from the barge crashed into them. Tony lost his grip on Wilson and Rogers as soon as they hit and he struggled to grab their hands now. “Fri!” Tony yelled, his eyes frantically searching for his friends in the hectic water. “Surface?” he tumbled through the water trying to figure out which way was up. His flight control was damaged and he couldn’t gain control of his suit.

_ “Now, Boss!”  _ Tony ignited his hands and a second later, he broke the surface of the water. He felt as if he was being tossed through the rinse cycle. The barge was sinking before him, debris scatted across the water and the shore. Tony struggled to stay afloat in his armor as he looked around him for any sign of his teammates. 

“Steve!” he screamed across the water. “Steve!” Sirens echoed in the distance, but then he heard a single voice. 

“Tony!” Steve yelled as he swam toward him. Tony rushed toward him the best he could. Steve was bloody and struggling, but alive. Behind him, he towed Sam who was balanced on the shield. The Airman was unconscious and his face was covered in blood, along with a nasty piece of rebar sticking from his thigh. “Where’s Wanda?” Steve asked as he held onto Sam for dear life. Tony shook his head. 

“I lost her,” he said. “Steve, I lost her.” Rogers looked devastated as the water tried to pull him under. “I’m sorry!” Tony yelled over the wind. 

“You said that already, idiot!” Steve yelled back. 

“I know, I just needed to say it again!” Steve could only do one thing then. He reached out and grabbed Tony with his right arm, pulling the man closer to him. Tony’s helmet retracted and he pressed his forehead against Steve’s. 

“You are one complicated bastard, you know that?” Steve asked. Tony laughed, coughing up river water in the process. 

“Yeah, but that's why we’re friends.” Steve nodded, tightening his grip on both Stark and Wilson. 

“You got that right.” The smile that Tony gave Steve was one he never thought he would do again. This man, no matter what happened, would always be his family. Even when they were trying to kill each other. A sudden wave crashed over them as they struggled to make their way through the river. 

“We’re gonna die out here unless we get our asses in gear,” Tony said. 

“Any ideas?” Tony went to say they should just wing it when a loud horn echoed across the river. They turned to see a bright spotlight shining upon them as the coast guard approached. Tony started to laugh as he saw Wanda at the helm of the boat, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. 

“Can’t keep that woman down,” Tony said, his voice full of relief. Wanda, though exhausted, raised her hands toward the three men in the water and wrapped them in her magic. “Oh, I definitely don’t like this,” Tony muttered as Wanda lifted them from the Hudson and pulled them toward the boat. All three hit the deck and were immediately surrounded by coast guard officers. Cap pushed Sam toward them first. 

“Help him, please,” Steve said, almost desperate. 

“We have him, Captain,” one of the officers said as he offered his hand to Steve. Steve accepted the help and got to his feet. Behind him, Tony had deactivated his suit, the nanotech returning to their casing. He looked up at Steve who was holding the attention of the officers on deck. Tony couldn't help but smile at him.

Then, Wanda was next to him. She crashed into his side, her hands going to his face, checking for injuries. “Hey, hey, I’m okay,” he reassured her. Wanda tore the blanket off her shoulder and placed it around Tony as she helped him sit against the side of the boat. 

“I thought…” Wanda trailed off as she ducked her head, her hair covering her face. 

“Wanda, look at me,” Tony said and she glanced up through her lashes that were wet with tears and river water. A sob flew from her throat and Tony pulled her into his chest.

“It’s over?” she asked through her tears. 

“Yeah Red, it’s all over now. You can come home.”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So. This was supposed to be done last week, but life got in the way. 
> 
> Unfortunately, I have basically lost all interest in this story... It happens. However, I am going to finish it, I just don't think I'll ever be happy with how I wrote it. I think I lost interest about five chapters back so I haven't been very happy with a lot of it, but I have to finish it. I don't want to abandon it and I won't. 
> 
> this chapter is a bit all over the place and could have easily just been combined with the previous, but whatever. I am just adding an epilogue next that will wrap up this trilogy. If you have been reading this since the beginning, I hope it turns out alright. 
> 
> I have been nonstop writing fics for nearly a year now and I need a break ha. Okay, next up, Tony builds something special and the team gets some closure.


	9. For Pietro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a short epilogue

_ “The world is celebrating today as we have learned that the initial reports of the death of billionaire and superhero, Tony Stark, were falsified. Over the past week, the team now once again known as the Avengers have been clearing up everything that has happened in the past year. The organization known as HYDRA is responsible for not only the attack on the Avengers facility but also the false reports on Mr. Stark as well as those on Wanda Maximoff. _

_ “The Sokovian national has been cleared of all charged against her in the investigation into the attack on Stark and the remaining Avengers. Personal accounts of witnesses and suspects taken into custody all confirm that Wanda Maximoff was never a hostile force. It was all an elaborate plan to corrupt the young woman in hopes of her returning to HYDRA and aiding the hostile artificial intelligence known as Ultron. Through their heroic efforts, the Avengers were able to defeat Ultron once again and it seems that we are never going to be able to thank them enough. Even when the world has turned their backs on them, they have kept their promise. _

_ “As for the members that were wanted, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, and Sam Wilson have all received pardons as well as Clint Barton and Scott Lang. The whereabouts of Sargeant James Barnes are still unknown, though he has been granted one as well. A thorough investigation with the help of multiple agencies has revealed that Secretary of State, Thaddeus Ross, had a part to play in the attack on the Avengers. He will face incarceration as well as further charges of conspiracy. His trial is expected to begin at the end of the month.  _

_ “I am also glad to report that Pepper Potts, Colonel James Rhodes, and Happy Hogan have all safely returned and are unharmed. For now, I believe that the Avengers deserve some much-needed breathing room and personally, I think we may all owe them an apology.”  _

“Well, that was something,” Tony said as he was stretched out on the couch. Pepper was pressed into his side, while Peter leaned into his other. After the battle, once they had been rescued by the Coast Guard, everything moved at lightspeed. Steve got in contact with Everett Ross and the clean up began. 

Sam was rushed into surgery while the entire team, Spider-Man included, waited in the waiting room all bruised and barely able to stand up straight. Cap, Natasha, and Tony spoke to every government agent that arrived at the hospital. Halfway through Sam’s surgery, Maria Hill had shown up with the news that the UN was already drafting the pardons. It put everyone at ease.

By the time, Sam was stable enough to move, Tony had him transferred back upstate to their own facility where S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were waiting to continue his care. When they had arrived back home hours later, Pepper was already there with Rhodey and Happy. She had run to Tony the second he was in her view and he hadn’t let go since. 

Happy had fussed over Peter, afraid he was hurt and that he still never listened to him. Peter had rolled his eyes, but Tony had watched the interaction with love in his eyes for the two of them. He really did have the best family. 

As for Diana, she was taken into custody by the United Nations and will be living out her days in cell courtesy of Nick Fury. Tony was also able to code a matrix that eradicated Ultron from any tech worldwide just to be safe. The vibranium core had been lost in the river, but Tony was certain that without the matrix, it was useless. He only hoped that he was right. 

As soon as everyone was patched up, the team took a few days to recharge. Peter had gone home for a bit to be with May while the rest of the team did absolutely nothing. Occasionally, they had to answer a few questions for Agent Ross, but in the end, Everett left them alone as much as possible. Wanda stuck close to Tony and the two of them often found themselves sitting together on the roof late at night when neither of them could sleep. Vision and Pepper would find them fast asleep hours later and help them to bed.

Cap and Tony had also been together as much as possible. After almost losing each other, they spent a lot of time working through everything the past year had brought them. Fighting ensued, but it never lasted long, especially when Natasha was there to break up their arguments. Nat almost seemed to glow brighter as she was once again surrounded by her family, especially when Hill brought the Bartons upstate and she was reunited with her niece and nephews. 

Sam’s recovery was going well and Rhodey was beginning his physical therapy to get him back on his feet with help from Steve. Now, the entire team sat around the living room watching the news reports on the battle and political occurrences. It felt great to just do nothing and Tony hoped it would last a lot longer this time, but he would still be ready to suit up when the time came. 

“How do you think the public will react?” Wanda said from her spot in front of Tony on the floor. Vision sat next to her, his hand in hers. 

“According to Hill, the reaction is pretty good,” Steve said with a yawn. “They even like Natasha again.” Nat threw a pillow at him. 

“Thanks, Rogers,” Nat said and he winked at her. 

“I think I’d be pretty pissed if they still hated us,” Tony said. “Then again, we could all die in a fiery explosion and people will still find ways to tarnish our name.” 

“You always do look on the brighter side, don’t you honey?” Pepper asked, with a roll of her eyes. Tony grinned and kissed the top of her head. 

“So, what do we do now?” Sam asked. “I can’t see us going back to normal as if nothing had happened.”   
“I don’t think anyone will buy that regardless,” Clint said. “It’ll take time.” 

“As long as I don’t have to go near the Hudson again, I’m good,” Wanda said. Most of the team ended up getting sick after their excursion in the New York City river. Tetanus shots were also given just in case. They all decided then that rivers would never again be a battlefield if they could help it.

“I think we can manage that,” Vision said.

“Oh,” Natasha began, “my room got busted by HYDRA so we’re going to need to do some major home improvement.” 

“Just moving right back in, aren’t you?” Tony joked. Natasha winked at him. 

“Living on a quinjet can be fun, but it’s not home.” 

“No it is not,” Tony said, throwing his arms around both Pepper and Peter. “It’s good to be home.” 

* * *

Later that day, Tony found Peter on the balcony of the teen’s bedroom.

“Overthinking?” Tony asked as he approached Peter. Parker turned and hopped up on the railing, easily balancing. 

“Is it that obvious?” Peter asked. Tony shook his head. 

“No, I’ve just picked up on things you do. Staring out over the horizon all by yourself tells me you have a lot on your mind,” Tony said, joining him at the railing. “What’s going on?” 

“It’s going to be different now, isn’t it?” Peter asked. Tony furrowed his brow and looked up at him. 

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s just, the team is back together. You’ll be gone more, off on missions, you know? It will be like before Leipzig,” Peter said with a shrug. Tony shook his head. 

“No, Peter. It won't be the same. I think all of us are way too different for it to be the way it once was. Besides, why are you acting like I’ll be doing this on my own? Are you planning on retiring already?” Peter slowly turned and looked at Tony, his eyes wide. 

“You want me to come with you on missions?” He asked, completely in shock. Tony snorted. 

“Pete, how many times do I have to tell you that you’re not a child anymore. I think you’ve proven yourself enough when it comes to being Spider-Man. Do I need to bring out a sword and knight you? You’re an Avenger now, Parker,” Tony said, a smile of stretching across his stubbled face. “If that’s okay with you, of course.” Peter nodded enthusiastically. 

“Definitely,” Peter said. “Thank you.” Tony reached out his arm and Peter jumped down and hugged Stark.

“You’re one of the good ones, Peter,” Tony told him. “Never forget who you are, no matter what.” 

“I promise,” Peter said as he tightened his hold on Tony. The two heroes stayed on the balcony and talked for hours, enjoying each other’s company. Tony had needed this. Just to be with his kid without impending doom or anything else dire. Just to be with Peter. 

A little later Tony had found himself walking through the residences when he ran into Clint. Barton was carrying Nathaniel who had fallen asleep. Tony smiled at his friend who gripped his son as he passed. As Tony wandered through the Compound, he noticed more of these smaller moments. Steve at Sam’s side, helping him walk across the grounds; Natasha and Rhodey laughing on a couch in one of the many living rooms; Vision, Happy, and Wanda watching TV. It was almost surreal to think that he had this all back. 

Just a few months ago, right before Wanda had shown up on his doorstep, he was in a rut. He was only ever happy when Peter was around and any time he looked around his home, he was reminded of the team that had left him, his family. And now, when he looked, he didn’t feel despair or grief, he saw love and he saw home. 

They had all come together again even after being shattered. No matter what it took, Tony would continue to fix things, starting with one thing in particular. Tony found Steve a bit later in the kitchen. He placed a datapad in front of Cap and Steve stared down at it in confusion. 

“A flight plan?” Steve asked. “Are you planning a vacation?” Tony shook his head. 

“It’s not a departure, it’s an arrival,” Tony explained. “One-way ticket to this facility from Wakanda.” Cap looked at Tony in shock. “He gets here at the end of the week. Shuri, T’Challa’s sister, wants to run just a few more tests, but she’s confident that Bucky is back to his own brooding self. No HYDRA left in his blended brain. I’ve even heard she made him a new arm. It’s Vibranium, very state-of-the-art.”

“Tony, you didn’t have to do this,” Steve said, overwhelmed with emotion. 

“I know, but I did,” Tony said. “Peter reminded me that I had promised that everyone comes home. And as much as it’s going to take me a while to get used to him being here, Barnes deserves a home as well. I forgave Wanda, I forgave Clint when he was brainwashed, and I can work on doing it for Barnes. I may need your help, though.” 

“Anything you need,” Steve said. “Thank you, Tony.” 

“What are friends for?” Tony asked.

* * *

As the sun set, Tony went to find Wanda.

“Come take a walk with me,” he said as she opened her bedroom door. Confused, she grabbed her coat and followed him. The two of them walked through the grounds. They had cleaned up since the battle to take their home back, but it would take a while to completely remove HYDRA’s stain. Tony took her to the front of the facility where a large tree stood tall and proud, shading a large area of the grounds.

Wanda stumbled as she beheld the newest addition to the entranceway. “Tony…” she whispered as tears sprung up behind her eyes. 

“It was long overdue and I’m sorry it took so long,” he said softly, taking her hand and leading her to the large marble memorial that had been erected for her brother, Pietro Maximoff. The large slab of stone was a brilliant white and silver piece with a metal etching of his face at the center. Below, engraved in the stone. was a small message: 

_ “Heroes are made by the path they choose not the powers they are graced with.”  _

_ Pietro Maximoff _

_ Brother. Son. Friend. Avenger. Hero of Sokovia. _

Wanda’s tears flowed as she placed her hand against the stone and fell to her knees. “Everything you did,” Tony continued, “it was for him. He’d be so proud of you, Wanda. I only knew him for a little while, but you could see how much he loved you.” Wanda nodded, her shoulders shaking. “This is where he’ll be remembered and if someone tears it down, I’ll build a bigger one. Never will his sacrifice be forgotten, I swear to you.” Wanda got to her feet and turned to him. 

“I don’t know what to say,” she choked out. “It’s beautiful.” Wanda walked forward and embraced Tony, her tears flowing more and more. “Thank you, Tony. Thank you so much.” Tony hugged her back, trying to hold back his own tears. 

“We’re going to be okay, Wanda,” he told her softly. “This is just the beginning. You have so much to show the world and if I could bring him back to have him run at your side, I would. I need you to know that.” Wanda nodded in his shoulder. 

“I know,” she whispered. Wanda pulled back and Tony wiped her tears. 

“Who would have thought that this is where the two of us would end up,” Tony said. Wanda looped her arm through his, leaning her head on his shoulder. 

“Life has a funny way of surprising us but in the end, it always works out,” she said softly. Tony pulled her close just as the clouds above them split open and the sun shone down on the Compound. The storm had passed, bringing this new chapter of their story into the light and it was all the mechanic and the witch could ask for. 

The End. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is supposed to be incredibly short. I just wanted to wrap everything up nicely. 
> 
> I hope that whoever has read this series has enjoyed it and my take on Wanda and Tony's friendship. 
> 
> Till next time!

**Author's Note:**

> The last story in this series, unfortunately. 
> 
> We got nine chapters in this one. 
> 
> After End Game, this will be a happy ending as I am still in mourning. 
> 
> Off we go!


End file.
